US carrier MetroPCS claims to have beaten SK Telecom to the title of “world’s first VoLTE (Voice-over-LTE) operator”, as commercial deployment in this space starts to ramp up.

South Korea’s SK yesterday issued a statement saying that the launch today of its HD Voice service will see it become the first operator in the world to commercially switch on VoLTE services. However, MetroPCS has stolen SK’s thunder slightly by saying that it switched on its own service yesterday, ahead of SK. The US operator is now selling the VoLTE-capable LG Connect 4G Android smartphone at “select US stories” and says it will “continue to roll out VoLTE services and phones in the coming weeks.” SK’s launch today is supported by the Samsung S3 smartphone.

Meanwhile South Korean number three operator  LG Uplus is also switching on its VoLTE service today in Seoul, supported by LG’s Optimus LTE2 smartphone. The country’s second-largest operator, KT, has said it plans to launch VoLTE in October.

Separate reports this week claim US operator T-Mobile USA is now considering supporting VoLTE services sometime in the future, a move that will follow similar launches by AT&T and Verizon Wireless.