VoLTE shows its mettle in initial commercial tests

With voice-over-LTE networks slowly coming to market, focus is now turning to just how those networks perform compared with legacy circuit switched-based voice offerings. And, according to a new report, it appears that the performance benefit is clearly in the lap of VoLTE services.
In a new report from Signals Research Group, commercially deployed VoLTE networks are already providing better call quality, faster connectivity and proving to be less taxing on device battery life than legacy systems. The firm conducted trials on VoLTE services in June and July, comparing performance with 3G-based circuit-switched networks and Skype’s voice-over-IP solution. Results from the testing showed a “measurable” improvement in call quality for VoLTE; improved device data performance for VoLTE compared with Skype; VoLTE call set-up times twice as fast as circuit-switched networks; and VoLTE’s need for fewer device resources and thus improved battery life compared with Skype. Perhaps most important to end users, the testing showed successful handoffs between VoLTE service and legacy circuit-switched services as devices transferred between the two networks.
“Based on our analysis of the data, VoLTE lived up to expectations,” said Michael Thelander, CEO and founder of Signals Research. “VoLTE delivered a consistently higher call quality than circuit-switched voice and over-the-top applications. While other network or background traffic downloading on a smartphone could bring Skype voice to its knees, there was no indication that it impacted the VoLTE call. In addition, VoLTE really shined when it came to its network requirements, consuming far less than a Skype voice call which translates into a meaningfully longer smartphone battery life.”
The move to VoLTE is expected to allow wireless carriers to transmit voice traffic more efficiently and eventually shutter legacy 2G and 3G networks that are currently burdened with carrying all voice traffic and a good portion of data traffic. Analysts noted in an RCR Wireless News report last year that carriers could see up to 40% more spectral efficiency running voice traffic over their LTE networks compared with legacy systems.
The results could be a boon for the VoLTE market, which appeared to witness stalled deployments as the technology worked through development issues. Verizon Wireless, which was one of the first domestic carriers to throw its support behind VoLTE, in early 2011 completed a successful VoLTE test call. However, further testing appeared to be ripe with challenges as the carrier was forced to push back its original 2013 deployment plans.
Earlier this year, AT&T Mobility threw its hat into the VoLTE ring, announcing plans to roll out services across a handful of markets. That was followed by Verizon Wireless announcing plans to launch services by the end of the year, remarks that were recently reiterated by the carrier. T-Mobile US has also launched commercial VoLTE services, having recently expanded the offering to more than a dozen markets covering 107 million potential customers.
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