AT&T, NTT Docomo Partner on VoLTE Roaming

U.S. operator AT&T and Japanese operator NTT Docomo have begun offering VoLTE roaming services in Japan. AT&T customers traveling in Japan are now able to roam on Docomo’s LTE network and enjoy high-definition voice-calling services in VoLTE coverage areas when calling other AT&T customers who have compatible devices. Docomo serves over 73 million customers throughout Japan, and AT&T’s VoLTE network covers more than 300 million Americans.

Voice-over-LTE, though it debuted in 2014, has been slow to gel. While it is viable within operators’ networks, interoperability is a work in progress. AT&T and Verizon have announced that their users would be able to make VoLTE calls to each other, but the service is still not fully rolled out, and access to VoLTE outside one’s own network is still quite spotty in the U.S. Furthermore, there are yet other hiccups with VoLTE: The service is reported to suffer from three to four times as many dropped calls as traditional cellular voice systems. On the other hand, service outages are far less common with VoLTE than with traditional cellular calling, giving the service an extra advantage beyond the primary benefit of higher voice quality. In short, VoLTE is a promising technology with definite boons to users and thus to operators, but it still needs all the help it can get in order to fully take hold in the marketplace.

With that in mind, we can see that offering international interoperability—even before domestic interoperability is completed—can help give the service a boost in the estimation of consumers. In making this arrangement with Docomo, AT&T is playing catch-up; rival Verizon Wireless began operating in Japan over KDDI’s network back in June 2016, at first just for Japanese customers in the U.S., and soon thereafter for U.S. customers in Japan. Depending on the network technology, AT&T and Verizon users’ VoLTE experience in Japan may actually be better than at home.

Tarifica is the global leader in monitoring and analyzing telecom pricing. Covering hundreds of operators in every region of the globe, Tarifica’s databases of mobile and fixed line data and voice tariffs are among the largest and most in-depth in the world. Tarifica is also a leading publisher of benchmark and other pricing reports, and its analysts are recognized authorities in the telecom industry, relied upon by operators and businesses worldwide for pricing insight and guidance.

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Verizon Expects VoLTE Interoperability With AT&T in 2016

U.S. operator Verizon Wireless expects VoLTE interoperability with AT&T Mobility to become commercially available this year, according to Verizon’s vice president of network planning and technology, Adam Koeppe. Speaking at a FierceWireless panel called “The Path to 5G” at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Koeppe said that trials of the service with AT&T were progressing well. The companies said in November 2014 that they expected to offer VoLTE calling between the two networks by the end of 2015. In December AT&T said that it had achieved the first VoLTE exchange between its customers and Verizon customers in select areas. Currently, customers of each operator who have VoLTE-enabled phones can only call other VoLTE phones on the same network.

VoLTE technology has the potential to revivify an aspect of mobile service that has been suffering lately—voice telephony. The rise of data, including OTT messaging, has caused voice to recede in terms of proportion of use. VoLTE, due to its higher quality, promises to deliver greater customer satisfaction and therefore to boost the use of voice calling. Increased traffic over operators’ LTE networks due to VoLTE stands to increase revenue and also maximize capacity on those networks. However, VoLTE will not be appealing to customers if it remains only within one network. The average customer has too many friends and contacts who use the services of different operators to make it worth their while to buy a new, VoLTE-enabled device for on-net use only. Furthermore, full off-net calling is needed to fully utilize network capacity. Therefore, interoperability is essential if VoLTE is to be viable and live up to its promise.

The recent trials show that AT&T and Verizon, the two biggest operators in the U.S., have established interoperability as a practical possibility; all that remains is for them to implement it across their national footprints. Finally, uptake of VoLTE-enabled smartphones will be driven only by wide availability of VoLTE across operator networks, so device manufacturers will be watching AT&T and Verizon’s progress with interest. Fully-realized VoLTE has been a long time coming in the U.S. Now it seems be arriving at last. We expect that T-Mobile and Sprint will be working hard to connect their own VoLTE services with those of the two market leaders. 

Tarifica is the global leader in monitoring and analyzing telecom pricing. Covering hundreds of operators in every region of the globe, Tarifica’s databases of mobile, fixed line data and voice tariffs are among the largest and most in-depth in the world. Tarifica is also a leading publisher of benchmark and other pricing reports, and its analysts are recognized authorities in the telecom industry, relied upon by operators and businesses worldwide for pricing insight and guidance.

To learn more about Tarifica, please visit www.tarifica.com 

South Korean Operators Sign VoLTE Cross-Carrier Deal

South Korean mobile operators SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus have signed a deal that will open the way to full commercialization of VoLTE services, according to a report. The three major operators started talks on inter-carrier service fees and a payment system three years ago. South Korean customers can currently make on-net VoLTE calls. VoLTE cross-carrier services are now scheduled for launch on 20 November. SK Telecom plans to introduce a “smart call transfer service” that allows users to make and receive calls with their computer using VoLTE. KT will use it in their GiGa LTE, Olleh Pop-up Call, and in Who Who, a service that blocks robocalls and texts. LG UPlus will use VoLTE technology in its Yoowa platform.

Voice over LTE service has been growing in many markets, particularly the developed ones. VoLTE has been available in South Korea for three years, but even in this mobile market, one the most highly developed in the world, the high-quality voice service cannot truly thrive without interoperability. With only on-net calls, VoLTE will not be able to realize its potential, either from an operational or a market point of view. Cross-carrier services in South Korea have been a long time coming, but with the deal signed, the technology can finally become an integral part of the mobile landscape. The fees the operators have agreed to pay will, we believe, be amply justified by the revenues that full utilization of VoLTE will bring in. 

Tarifica is the global leader in monitoring and analyzing telecom pricing. Covering hundreds of operators in every region of the globe, Tarifica’s databases of mobile and fixed line data and voice tariffs are among the largest and most in-depth in the world. Tarifica is also a leading publisher of benchmark and other pricing reports, and its analysts are recognized authorities in the telecom industry, relied upon by operators and businesses worldwide for pricing insight and guidance. To learn more about Tarifica, please visit www.tarifica.com

Telenor Norway to End 3G Service Ahead of 2G Service

In a recent statement, Bjørn Amundsen, Telenor Norway’s director of coverage, said that within five years the operator’s 4G/LTE network will match its 2G network in terms of coverage. Telenor Norway has already deployed 4G/LTE service in 42 of 87 municipalities in the country’s key northern territories and is on target to cover all municipalities in northern Norway by the end of 2016. Currently, subscribers can only access data on Telenor’s 4G/LTE network, but the operator plans to launch VoLTE before the end of the year. Amundsen also said that the MNO will phase out its 2G network within a decade and will end 3G service sooner than that. It will maintain its 2G network longer than its 3G network due to device compatibility issues and the growing number of M2M services.

Telenor Norway’s prediction that it will end 3G service ahead of 2G service comes as no surprise, as we have seen other operators, such as those in the U.K., state the same thing. In New York, U.S. mobile operator Verizon Wireless has shut off 20 MHz of spectrum that was once allocated for 3G service and is running 4G in its place. The operator is doing the same on its network in Cleveland, OH. Lastly, as we have previously reported, in India, where adoption of 3G networks has been slow, some operators may go directly to 4G from 2G networks, bypassing 3G service altogether. Requiring operators to maintain three networks is very expensive, so it is critical that they choose how to repurpose spectrum based on return of their investment. For most operators, 2G networks are still an important source of revenue, particularly in rural areas, where the return on investment for 4G infrastructure upgrades will not be enough to make it very profitable. In addition, 2G service uses a low frequency, which results in reduced operating costs for MNOs. On the other hand, 3G competes more closely with 4G in that it is data-focused, and with 4G service, operators may be able to upsell users to larger data packages due to the faster speeds it offers. As Telenor Norway begins to refarm its spectrum, 3G service may well be the first to go, mainly to ensure that there will not be any loss of coverage in hard-to-serve areas and to ensure that users with older handsets still receive service. Once its 4G/LTE network can support VoLTE across the country and more users have 4G-enabled smartphones, we may still not see the total elimination of 2G service, because 2G is particularly useful for M2M connectivity, which is in growing demand.

The above item appeared in a recent issue of The Tarifica Alert, a weekly resource that analyzes noteworthy developments in the telecoms industry from around the world. Contact Tarifica for a subscription to the Tarifica Alert. 
Tarifica is the leader in monitoring and analyzing telecom pricing, covering hundreds of operators in every region of the globe. Tarifica’s databases of mobile and fixed line data and voice tariffs are among the largest and most in-depth in the world. Tarifica is also a leading publisher of benchmark and other pricing reports, and its analysts are recognized authorities in the telecom industry, relied upon by operators and businesses worldwide for pricing insight and guidance. Click here to contact a Tarifica Analyst.

U.S. Market Appears Poised for VoLTE

A series of recent announcements indicate that the U.S. mobile market may be nearing the long-awaited transition to Voice over LTE (VoLTE). The second-largest operator, AT&T, launched its pilot program with the technology in May. While the program will begin only in selected areas of the Midwest and exclusively on the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, the operator has promised rapid expansion. Following that expanasion, and perhaps driven by it, Verizon Wireless, the country’s largest operator, announced that by the end of 2014 it will offer the service nationally. In a release Verizon stated that its leading LTE network combined with its strategy of a single national rollout, would provide the most customers with access to high-quality VoLTE services the fastest. Beyond this news, Verizon Wireless announced that its VoLTE rollout would include a new video calling feature that will use the technology to provide native functionality similar to Skype or FaceTime. Further, recent FCC disclosures revealed that Verizon had already struck interconnection deals with both Sprint and T-Mobile for VoIP traffic, deals that could eventually serve as a framework for VoLTE roaming agreements. 

While both AT&T and Verizon Wireless have already fallen short of their initial timelines for VoLTE (AT&T projected rollout for the end of 2013, while Verizon Wireless had initially planned for late 2012 to early 2013), it now appears that both are closing in on a launch. A major “X factor” in the U.S. adoption of VoLTE will be the consequences of Sprint’s prospective purchase of T-Mobile. T-Mobile was the first to launch VoLTE in the U.S., with a three-device pilot program in Seattle that began on 22 May 2014 and is scheduled to expand throughout the year. Sprint, on the other hand, has no announced plans for VoLTE, relying instead on its CDMA network to provide HD voice calling. It will be interesting to see which course the combined entity pursues following the acquisition.

The benefits for of VoLTE for operators are clear and much discussed. In the coming months, it will be critical to examine these test programs and rollouts to see if any operator can capture a competitive advantage by implementing the technology faster or more effectively.

The above item appeared in a recent issue of The Tarifica Alert, a weekly resource that analyzes noteworthy developments in the telecoms industry from around the world. To access all of the latest articles and issues:  http://www.tarifica.com/TarificaAlert.aspx