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June 24, 2014

EE is Set to Launch VoLTE Next Year

It is always interesting to see how something that happens in one area inevitably leads to developments in other areas. A case in point is the proliferation of BYOD in the workplace. As more employees are allowed, and in some cases encouraged, to bring their own devices to use in the workforce, certain infrastructure improvements become unavoidable. In fact, some analysts feel that this will promote increased spending on wireless infrastructure my mobile operators. This, in turn, will lead to services such as Voice over LTE (VoLTE) in the corporate network.

EE, formerly known as Everything Everywhere, is a mobile network operator and internet service provider company headquartered in the U.K. It is the largest mobile network operator in the U.K. A few days ago EE began internal trials with a group of about 50 engineers to test VoLTE. This process can expect to see about 500 users by the end of the trial period.

This had led to an announcement from EE that it has plans to launch VoLTE. It is not expected to be commercially available until sometime early next year. In addition to VoLTE, EE will also launch a Voice over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi) service. Apparently, this is an effort on EE’s part to let customers know that it has not forgotten about voice services.

The intention is that both of these services will be enabled through an IMS capability in EE’s network. The IP Multimedia Subsystem or IP Multimedia Core Network Subsystem (IMS) is an architectural framework for delivering IP multimedia services. It was originally designed by the wireless standards body known as 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). It was developed as a way for evolving mobile networks beyond GSM.

EE’s director of network services and devices, Tom Bennett said “It’s the most complex thing I have ever worked on.” He mentioned that the reason deployment will not be ready until early next year is based on the fact that requirements call for a lot of testing, all of which will be necessary in order to make sure the service is set for a commercial launch.

Although EE says that it plans to spend a little over $467 million in voice over 2G, 3G and 4G networks this year, it is not expecting there to be any direct revenue generated through either VoLTE or VoWiFi. On the other hand, both should provide improvements in quality of service over traditional circuit switched calls.

One difference that will be seen immediately is the fact that VoWiFi should improve in-building coverage. Due to the fact that in homes and offices where cellular coverage is lacking or poor, calls can be quickly and automatically routed through Wi-Fi. Bennett did not hide the fact that VoWiFi was definitely needed when he said, “Yes there are places where we do not currently penetrate, I won’t hide that.”

Over the past year, several operators such as AT&T, Bouygues Telecom, NTT DoCoMo and T-Mobile have either already launched or are on the verge of launching commercial VoLTE services. As the largest operator in the U.K., EE is ready to follow suit. 




Edited by Maurice Nagle


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