As carriers around the world work to commercially deploy voice over LTE on a large scale, ZTE on Feb. 9 announced successful completion of VoLTE testing for industry giant China Mobile.
ZTE, which provides telecom equipment and network solutions, used its IP Multimedia Subsystem to demonstrate VoLTE capacity, voice quality and continuity.
The company said it’s the “first vendor to successfully complete China Mobile’s large capacity VoLTE tests. ZTE’s IMS … solutions deployed in the China Mobile test delivered robust and stable network performance, fully fulfilling customer requirements.”
Other features tested by ZTE include network function, service function and performance tests.
VoLTE operators predicted to grow in 2015
Citing an Infonetics Research report, ZTE pegs the number of VoLTE subscribers worldwide at 51 million in September 2014 working off of 11 commercial VoLTE networks. The report estimated the number of operators deploying VoLTE at more than 20 by the end of this year.
Kevin Hertz, CTO of Voxox, told RCR Wireless News that VoLTE could be a disruptor in 2015.
“In 2015, voice over LTE will shake up the marketplace in a variety of ways. For example, some mobile operators will use VoLTE-powered unified communication to compete with over-the-top UC providers, particularly in the enterprise market, where customers will value – and pay for – the quality of service that mobile operators and VoLTE can provide.”
ZTE’s IMS provides quality-of-service guarantees and continuity handover for 2G, 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi voice.
ZTE has been awarded some 170 contracts for IMS/VoLTE.
