Voice over LTE has moved one step closer to commercial availability as Qualcomm (QCOM) says it has successfully handed over a call from an Ericsson (ERIC) LTE mobile network to an Ericsson W-CDMA network. The call was made using a device running Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 3G/LTE chipset. The transfer used single radio voice call continuity to successfully move the call to the 3G network when the LTE network was no longer available.
SRVCC builds on circuit-switched fallback technology, which is designed to allow LTE and 3G connections to be supported by a single radio and a single chip. Ericsson and Qualcomm are planning to demonstrate their test at the upcoming Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, and analysts are already speculating that handsets that can use SRVCC to transfer calls from LTE to 3G will be on the market this year.
Once handsets hit the market, look for carriers to begin offering VoLTE services. Verizon Wireless and MetroPCS have both announced VoLTE rollouts, but are unlikely to market them aggressively until a proven handset is available at a competitive price. According to analyst Chris DuPuy of Dell’Oro Group, MetroPCS told analysts late last year that it was looking for VoLTE handsets in the “$200 to $250” range before making a significant marketing commitment to VoLTE.
For Verizon Wireless, VoLTE will mean it can finally offer customers the ability to talk and use the Internet simultaneously. Other carriers already offer this feature, but Verizon Wireless has been unable to do so because its 3G network uses a version of CDMA technology that does not simultaneously support voice and data services. In addition, VoLTE is expected to offer improved sound quality on all networks.
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