Vodafone over the past weekend announced the first commercial voice over LTE service in Germany, and plans to roll out VoLTE in the U.K. this summer.
The operator demonstrated the first live VoLTE call in Germany this week at the CeBIT conference in Hanover. Vodafone claims its new service provides clearer voice quality, faster call set-up and encryption that provides better protection against potential eavesdroppers in the network.
Rival operators Deutsche Telekom and Telefónica’s O2 have not yet launched VoLTE.
Also at CeBit, the operator demonstrated its “5G” technology, with claimed speeds of more than 10 gigabits per second.
In the U.K., Vodafone plans to launch both Wi-Fi calling and VoLTE this summer as part of a $1.47 billion network and services investment plan. Wi-Fi calling allows customers with a voice signal to call without having to use an app.
Vodafone’s U.K. VoLTE announcement prompted immediate reports that U.K. operators EE and Three will also launch VoLTE services this year.
More telecom news from Europe:
• Orange plans $15.87 billion network investment. France’s leading operator Orange said it would invest $15.87 billion in its networks over the next four years as part of its new strategic plan called “Essentials 2020.” The French market had been undergoing a host of changes, driven in part by Numericable’s takeover of the operator SFR as well as the disruptive low-priced offers of Iliad’s Free.
• Ofcom starts strategic review of U.K.’s digital communications. Telecom regulator Ofcom announced that it would begin an overarching review of the U.K.’s digital communications markets. The review will examine competition, investment, innovation and product availability in broadband, mobile and landline markets.
The scrutiny comes as two big deals are in process: BT’s acquisition of EE, and Three’s potential takeover of Telefónica’s O2 operations. Matthew Howett of analyst firm Ovum said Ofcom’s review could lead to a more level playing field for telcos.
“Clearly the review needs to consider these mergers – and indeed it will be useful input for the advice Ofcom gives to the relevant competition authorities,” Howett said. “However, the regulator is keen to downplay this aspect, instead attempting to focus on how the review could lead to further deregulation of the sector.”
• DT and Huawei sign IT agreement. DT and the Chinese networking and telecom equipment-maker Huawei signed an agreement to expand their existing partnership to work together on IT infrastructure and private cloud solutions.
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