Last week, the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) issued its latest report on mobile HD voice around the world. GSA surveyed HD voice in over 69 countries on 96 networks as of January 3, 2014. Voice over LTE (VoLTE) is expected surge in 2014, with the U.S. adding significant numbers and coverage footprint as AT&T and Verizon Wireless turn up service.
By the numbers, 90 HSPA networks support HD voice. An additional seven GSM networks support HD voice, with some carriers operating both HSPA and GSM networks. GSA says new service turnups in 2013 represent 39 percent year-over-year growth of HD voice.
GSA will publish a report later this month documenting the number of available mobile HD voice "terminals" (handsets). The trade association estimates there are over 300 HD voice handsets available today; not surprising, considering that latest Apple's iPhones and newer Android models support the AMR-WB codec.
Only four LTE networks support HD voice at this time, three in South Korea and Azercell in Azerbaijan. There are 25 VoLTE networks listed as "In deployment" around the globe, with many others either "Trialing" or "Planned." Carriers in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Sweden and the U.K. are all working to turn up VoLTE services on LTE networks.
All four major carriers in the U.S. plan to have VoLTE running in the future, but the GSA report doesn't discuss the delays AT&T and Verizon Wireless have encountered in service deployment. AT&T had announced it would have VoLTE up by the end of 2013 while Verizon Wireless has a trail of missed VoLTE turn on pledges. Both companies have positioned themselves to deploy VoLTE by the end of 2014.
Meanwhile, Sprint and T-Mobile US have made the VoLTE pledge, but neither has committed to a timetable – probably a wise course of action, given the headaches other U.S. carriers have encountered. Given the pace of its LTE deployment, Sprint might not have VoLTE turned up until 2015 or later. T-Mobile US is an unpredictable player, preferring not to show its hand until it is certain of the outcome. The company's rollout of HD voice – still the only national carrier across its entire network – in January 2013 proves that T-Mobile knows how to keep a secret and deploy well.
About the only great mystery left in the HD voice discussion is IPX – IP Exchange, how carriers will seamlessly enable HD voice calls among themselves. BT and iBasis, among others, have been promoting IPX services for a couple of years, but the mobile industry as a whole has not committed to an "HD voice everywhere" policy with a date certain. (GSMA, are you listening?)
Edited by
Alisen Downey 
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