LTE: Singapore: SingTel Launches Full-Featured Voice over LTE.

Francisco De Jesùs.

Singapore's mobile operator SingTel has unveiled 4G ClearVoice, a commercial full-featured Voice over LTE (VoLTE) service, in collaboration with Samsung and Ericsson. Operator's VoLTE service offers full suite of telephony features such as call waiting and forwarding on the 4G network.

From 31 May, 4G ClearVoice will be available to SingTel 4G postpaid customers at no additional cost. Talktime will be deducted from the monthly bundled voice minutes of their existing subscription plan.

According to operator, key benefit of the service is the ability to connect calls in less than two seconds. In addition, 4G ClearVoice is equipped with Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC) capability, which automatically switches ongoing calls without interruption to the 3G network if users lose connection to the 4G network.

SingTel customers who use the Samsung GALAXY Note 3 will be the first to have 4G Clear Voice. A software update is needed to allow the handset to support VoLTE calls. New GALAXY Note 3 handsets sold from 31 May will come with the update installed. The update will be progressively sent to existing GALAXY Note 3 users over-the-air between 31 May and the end of June. Users of other 4G handsets can also expect to receive the update in the coming months.

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LTE: France: Bouygues Telecom VoLTE to launch in 2015. Ericsson selected.

Francisco De Jesùs.

In the latest of a rash of VoLTE announcements, French carrier Bouygues Telecom said it would start carrying the first voice and video calls over LTE later this year with a view to commercial launch of the service in 2015.

Bouygues talked up the benefits of the service such as HD (high definition) voice, which is significantly clearer than conventional voice, along with shorter call set-up times and enriched IP-based communication services such as video calling.

Swedish vendor Ericsson has been selected to provide key components of the IMS solution for VoLTE including the Multimedia Telephony Application Server, Session Border Gateway, Home Subscriber Server and User Profile Gateway, as well as software upgrades to the installed base of Ericsson LTE radio access network and Ericsson Evolved Packet Core.

Ericsson has also been chosen to complete the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network integration in its multi-vendor environment and thereby guarantee network reliability and service quality for Bouygues.

Jean-Paul Arzel, head of the networks division at Bouygues, said: “Bouygues Telecom is proving the capabilities of its 4G/LTE network to support the latest advanced technologies and services. Commercial service roll-out is scheduled for 2015 and our network will be carrying the first voice and video calls over LTE later this year.”

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LTE: Japan: SoftBank Mobile Selects Ericsson's Voice over LTE (VoLTE)

LTE: Japan: SoftBank Mobile Selects Ericsson's Voice over LTE  (VoLTE)

Japan's SoftBank Mobile has selected Ericsson to provide and integrate its end-to-end network solution for voice over LTE (VoLTE). With VoLTE as a basis, consumers will get HD voice and video calling alongside other telephony services, while using simultaneous LTE data services on LTE smartphones.

The VoLTE infrastructure will also enable additional new enriched communication services, and will serve as the basis for SoftBank's future network virtualization plans and Telecom Cloud introduction.

Ericsson is upgrading SoftBank Mobile's existing mobile core network (Ericsson Mobile Softswitch Solution and Evolved Packet Core) with a complete IMS core, which includes the Multimedia Telephony Application Server (MTAS). SoftBank Mobile's Ericsson-based LTE network is also being upgraded with new VoLTE software.

Until nationwide LTE coverage is deployed, seamless handover of ongoing voice calls from LTE to WCDMA is needed to ensure uninterrupted voice services as the user moves out of LTE coverage. Ericsson will also deploy this end-to-end network handover functionality, SRVCC (Single Radio Voice Call Continuity).

LTE: Huawei has completed end-to-end VoLTE voice call with eSRVCC.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

Huawei has completed end-to-end VoLTE voice call with eSRVCC (Enhanced Single Radio Voice Call Continuity, defined in 3GPP R10) handover without any perceivable interruption for the end user, company announced. Based on an end-to-end VoLTE network architecture, the test showed how an LTE user can smoothly handover from an LTE network to a 3G WCDMA network with voice call continuity.

For this test, Huawei provided an end-to-end network solution, including radio access network and core network CS, IMS and EPC. Qualcomm provided VoLTE test mobile phones embedded with the Snapdragon™ S4 processor, the MSM8960™.

According to the 3GPP Release 8 specification, Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC) provides seamless voice services when LTE users move from the LTE network coverage to 2G/3G network coverage. eSRVCC in 3GPP R10 enhances handover performance by eliminating the need to re-establish the bearer and signaling on both sides of the call leg and only requiring an update of the local call leg and keeping the remote leg of the call unchanged. This will further optimize the handover process and limit the cause of interruption time to the re-establishment of the local call leg and ensuring a better user experience.