Will VoLTE open new opportunities for 450?

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
16 November 2015 – 11:45am

by Michael Herh

The era of Voice over LTE (VoLTE) based on LTE data networks will take its first step this month. Up until now, the VoLTE service has been available among subscribers of the same mobile service carriers only. But sooner or later, the VoLTE linked to other mobile service carriers will be commercialized.

According to the telecommunications industry, SK Telecom, KT and LU U+ will launch the world’s first VoLTE service among mobile service carriers after holding a demonstration of the new service within this month. VoLTE is a technology to transfer voice calls via LTE data networks.

Its notable feature is the fact that VoLTE dwarfs current voice call services in terms of sound quality. This is because the VoLTE service rides wireless internet networks based on broadband frequencies.

Call delay times will be shortened, too. Currently, a call is connected to the receiver four or five seconds after the caller presses the call button. But VoLTE makes the delay time obsolete. But the creation of new services is where VoLTE is at its strongest. This is because LTE services can combine voice calls with various data services, since voice and data can travel in one chunk via the same network.

Three mobile service carriers are busy developing new services for the new era of mobile telecommunication before the debut of VoLTE-compatible services. Not much is known about the new services. But industrial experts predict that Real-Time Mobile Interpretation Service and Mobile Doctor Service will be new services in VoLTE’s early stage. The former interprets conversations with foreigners via oral or written methods in real time, while doctors can see patients’ sick areas, ask the patients questions and tell them their professional opinions by way of the latter.

From Business Korea