The service will be available for 1M subscribers by the end of 2015
Hutchison 3G, the smallest mobile operator in the U.K. and provides services under the Three brand, has become the nation’s first mobile service provider to launch a commercial voice-over-LTE service.
The new service, offered under the “4G Super-Voice” brand, is provided through the 800 MHz spectrum band.
In order to access the new offering, subscribers of Three need to have a compatible device such as the Samsung Galaxy S5. The British telco said it expects new VoLTE-capable devices to be added regularly, including the new iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. Three also said that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus phones will be made compatible via a software upgrade later this year.
At launch, the new VoLTE offering is available to 50% of the U.K.’s population in terms of indoor coverage, as well as more than three quarters of London, Edinburgh, Exeter and Birmingham. The operator also said it’s preparing to roll out the VoLTE technology in many other towns and cities across the U.K. including Cardiff, Manchester, Liverpool and Bristol.
“By the end of the year, 1 million of our customers will have access to better indoor coverage and be able to use their phones in more places than ever before,” the operator’s CTO Bryn Jones said. The VoLTE technology will reach 65% of the country’s population by the end of this year, according to the company, which also said it aims to have 5.5 million customers able to access VoLTE by 2017.
Three initially launched LTE services in the U.K. in 2013 through spectrum in the 1800 MHz band.
Vodafone’s LTE network reaches 92% of the Czech population
Vodafone Czech Republic’s LTE network currently reaches 92% of the country’s population and 83% of the overall territory.
The telco said it deployed LTE services in hundreds of towns and cities across the Czech Republic during August. Vodafone also reported that it has completed the deployment of LTE technology in capital city Prague. The operator added that more than a million people living in Prague now have access to LTE services with a peak download speed of up to 150 megabits per second and LTE-Advanced, with peak download speeds of up to 225 Mbps.
Vodafone first launched LTE in the Czech Republic in 2013. The telco currently provides 4G across the country through mobile spectrum in the 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2.1 GHz bands.
