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Service providers continue to evolve their networks to support VoLTE-based services. These have already been launched on more than 220 networks in more than 100 countries. VoLTE services are being deployed using cloud technologies to enable cost-effective network operations and deployment.
The number of subscriptions with VoLTE-enabled services is estimated to exceed 3 billion by the end of 2020 and reach 6.9 billion by the end of 2026, representing more than 90 percent of all LTE and 5G subscriptions combined. When 2G and 3G networks are phased out, this will accelerate the adoption of VoLTE and VoLTE roaming agreements, as the most widely used 4G voice solution today, Circuit-Switched Fallback (CSFB), will not work without 2G or 3G.
VoLTE (which uses the IP Multimedia Subsystem, or IMS) is also the foundation for enabling 5G voice calls, as well as SMS, Rich Communications Services (RCS), and new communication services on 5G devices. IMS is the only standardized voice solution for 5G, and there is no circuit-switched voice backup. Voice services will be implemented using various solutions in 5G networks: dual LTE-NR connectivity, support of the evolved packet system (EPS support) and new voice over radio (VoNR). The first voice-enabled EPS backup network went live during the second half of 2020 in North America. End-to-end testing of 5G voice (VoNR) and 5G video calls with network infrastructure and device ecosystem have been completed successfully.
Device availability and use case acceptance
There are 2,880 VoLTE-enabled 4G device models, of which about 85 percent are phones. Other devices include indoor CPEs, landline cordless phones, tablets, and smart watches. VoLTE-enabled smartphones also have improved functionalities, such as improved voice codecs and native video calls. More than 165 device models support HD Voice + (Evolved Voice System, or EVS) and 410 devices support video calls over LTE (ViLTE). All 5G smartphones are compatible with VoLTE.
A recent offering from the service provider market is smart speakers with voice calling capabilities, which use the same mobile phone number as a smartphone. This is based on the networking capabilities of multiple VoLTE devices that connect multiple devices, such as phones, smart watches, and smart speakers, to the same phone number. More than 100 service provider networks support voice-enabled mobile smart watches. Cellular wearables are being launched with separate subscriptions, including voice calls, for new groups of users, such as children and the elderly.
Other VoLTE-based services include additional phone lines on the same phone, shared phone lines, business collaboration services in combination with mobile HD voice and voice for IoT devices.
5G-related service innovations are being considered, including combinations with AR and VR. A new standardized 3GPP functionality will enable interactive 5G calls, combining a 5G voice call with real-time content sharing, for example, joint web browsing on 5G smartphones or business and enterprise media sharing between different devices and terminals. This could become a mainstream 5G voice service in the future.
