PRESS RELEASE: Recent years have witnessed an accelerated increase in VoLTE deployment and commercialization. Once deemed as a supplementary addition for operators to provide differentiated services, VoLTE is now a must for boosting spectral efficiency and developing digital services. 60 new VoLTE commercial networks came into use in 2016 alone, exceeding the sum of the previous four years.

However, VoLTE inherently possesses unique issues. VoLTE deployment relies upon the coordination of different technical fields. VoLTE network construction deviates from the traditional model in which vendors are tasked with installation and debugging while operators are responsible for integration. These requirements urge operators to seek experienced partners that can adapt to their strategies and demonstrate the technical know-how in rolling out VoLTE networks.

2016: Accelerated VoLTE Commercialization

After several years of preparation, the commercialization of VoLTE completed great strides in 2016. As of January 2017, 55 countries and regions have launched 102 VoLTE commercial offerings, among which 64 networks or 63% are deployed by Huawei. 2016 saw the addition of 60 VoLTE networks, surpassing the combined total increase from 2012 to 2015. A report by independent analyst house IHS Market shows that the number of VoLTE users expanded by 67% compared with the 2015 level, reaching 310 million subscribers. Ovum proposed a more daring forecast predicting that VoLTE connections will grow to 3.33 billion by 2021, penetrating 53% of total cellular subscriptions worldwide.

In China, VoLTE, along with carrier aggregation, has allowed China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom to deliver HD voice call and network acceleration in their 4G+ services. The joint effort between China Mobile Zhejiang and Huawei turned Hangzhou into the country’s pioneering city with the first commercial deployment of VoLTE. In addition, China Mobile has included VoLTE as one of the mandatory configurations of new handsets. By the end of 2016, the operator has launched commercial VoLTE high definition (HD) voice services in over 300 countries.

Along with accelerated commercialization comes the maturation of the industry chain. The types of VoLTE compatible devices have been on the rise. All mainstream high-end smartphones by phone makers such as Samsung, Apple, and Huawei support VoLTE services. Many mid-range and low-end smartphones have incorporated VoLTE in basic functionality. Entry-level VoLTE cell phones also prosper with the large scale introduction of 50 dollar VoLTE capable devices. Spreadtrum has delivered VoLTE phones in India and Thailand which cost under 25 dollars. This January’s Evolution to LTE Report by Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) shows that a total of 895 types of terminals now support VoLTE. 836 of these devices are smartphones, which means 18.3% of LTE smartphones are VoLTE compatible.

Apart from handset manufacturers, the mainstream chip vendors such as Qualcomm, HiSilicon, MediaTek, Samsung Electronics, and Spreadtrum have all released VoLTE commercial chipsets.

Business Values: New Competitive Edges from Improved Spectral Utilization

Similar to the adoption of any new technology, the dramatic growth of VoLTE is not only driven by advances in technology, but also business value.

Frequency spectrum has been and will remain to be one of the most precious resources. With the advent of the digital age, the conflict between its scarcity and operators’ rising demand is becoming more prominent. VoLTE accelerates the refarming of legacy spectrums, and offers twice to four times the spectral efficiency of that of 2G and 3G networks. Large scale VoLTE deployment allows immediate reallocation of 2G and 3G spectrums to 4G networks. The freed up low-frequency bands are an ideal for Internet of Things (IoT) and other vertical industry applications, opening up potential revenue streams for interested operators.

Apart from optimized frequency utilization, VoLTE offers superior voice quality with zero distortion, providing operators with a key competitive edge. By enabling the evolution from voice call to video call, VoLTE offers the ultimate user experience in the digital era. The higher average revenue per user (ARPU) value will migrate subscribers away from 2G and 3G to 4G.

VoLTE outshines CSFB and OTT in terms of voice quality, call setup time, and battery consumption. Based on multimedia subsystem (IMS), VoLTE enables operators to use the data network for voice calls. The 50-7000 Hz Adaptive Multirate Wideband (AMR-WB) codec of VoLTE is wider than that of 2G and 3G networks. The experienced voice quality of VoLTE is two times better in comparison to that of CSFB, and the call setup time is at least two times shorter than falling back to the 3G network. The VoLTE video resolutions are at least ten times higher than that of 3G. Since VoLTE consumes less network resources, it also offers improved battery life in contrast to the circuit switched technology or OTT applications such as Skype. Statistics show that after SK Telecom’s commercial roll out of VoLTE, the user penetration rate has grown from 6% to 80% within a mere two years from its first introduction.

Operators can also use VoLTE to mitigate the decline in voice service incomes due to fierce competition from low-cost or free OTT alternatives. The differentiated service experiences that VoLTE enables will influence buying decision, alter user behavior, and win users from OTT services. Operators who provide time-based packages can expect higher out-of-bundle revenue as users’ interest in VoLTE increases. For example, Korean’s operator sees a three-time increase in voice call duration and 2.5-time increase in data traffic usage after launching VoLTE. Likewise, Hong Kong Telco (HKT) and Japan’s DOCOMO experience a similar surge in data usage after launching VoLTE video call.

The voice services in the coming era of 5G will also be IMS-based. In this sense, VoLTE deployments will prepare operators for the future.

Huawei VoLTE: the Answer to Superior Voice Quality

With all the benefits that VoLTE promises, the multivendor network environment, the complexity of services, and the requirements for interconnection and interworking pose multiple hurdles for its deployment. Reconstructing the LTE network for VoLTE requires new network designs and planning. Therefore, choosing the right partner is the critical step in VoLTE implementation.

Huawei has been the optimal choice for many operators thanks to its knowledge of customers’ networks, continued VoLTE investment, and relentless pursuit for expertise. The company has deployed over half of the global VoLTE commercial networks and participated in major 2016 VoLTE events.

Huawei initiated heavy investment in VoLTE research and development (R&D) and commercial deployment as early as 2010. Its R&D for IMS, the core of VoLTE, can be traced back to 2003. Huawei is also committed to establish and promote new methodologies and testing systems to realize superior voice quality with zero distortion. As of date, multiple commercial networks with mean opinion score (MOS) over four have been deployed in countries such as Germany, Turkey, UK, Korea, and Thailand, and cities including Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Over the past couple of years, Huawei has been working closely with its partners to innovate VoLTE. For example, the VoLTE Plus solution extends VoLTE coverage to 2G level and delivers enhanced voice quality. In recent years, HKT and Huawei have completed the HD VoLTE network which offers MOS 4.0 anytime anywhere through the VoLTE Plus solution. In 2015, Huawei and HKT won the “Best VoLTE Innovation” award from consultancy firm Informa.

On the note of handsets, Huawei plays its part in adding VoLTE Default-on for all devices. This feature enables HD VoLTE voice services whenever the LTE networks are available. In October 2016, an operator in Asia worked with Huawei and major-stream device vendors to add VoLTE Default-on to the smartphones on the live network. The operator saw a 50% increase in its VoLTE data in the following month. The operators in Germany, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia are also ready to release VoLTE Default-on.