The VoLTE rollout in the U.S. has been rather sluggish due to limited availability, but a new deal between AT&T and Verizon Wireless aims to change that.
Voice over LTE (VoLTE) allows customers to place HD Voice calls, 1-way or 2-way video calls, and use voice or data services at the same time, but it's not that simple. VoLTE only works when both parties involved have supported devices from the same carrier, and that's where the troubles begin.
When Verizon Wireless first announced the availability of its VoLTE service, it had only two devices compatible - the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the LG G2 - and both the sender and the receiver had to have one of the two. The carrier recently added the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, as well as the Motorola Droid Maxx and Droid Mini to its VoLTE service. AT&T, meanwhile, only supports VoLTE in a few regions such as Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Georgia, Texas, and Wisconsin, and only on the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus.
AT&T and Verizon Wireless have now decided to join forces to boost their offerings, enabling VoLTE interoperability between their customers. This deal should materialize sometime in 2015.
Under this new agreement, AT&T and Verizon Wireless customers will be able to place VoLTE HD Voice calls to customers on the other carrier's network. At the same time, VoLTE HD Voice calls will be just the first part of this interoperability, as both carriers will add more features in the future.
"Engineers from both companies are working through a full set of requirements, beginning with extensive testing in lab environments and then moving to field trials. This approach ensures customers will have a seamless experience making VoLTE HD Voice calls between networks and lays the foundation for interoperability of other Rich Communications Services (RCS) such as video calls, rich messaging, and more in the future," the companies explained in a joint in a press release.
"Customers use their smartphones to connect with friends, family and colleagues across service providers and around the world. Interoperability among all VoLTE providers takes connectivity to the next level with HD quality voice and additional features that customers want," said Verizon chief technology officer Tony Melone. "We're pleased to be working with AT&T as our first interoperating carrier, and we look forward to working with other operators as VoLTE continues to grow."
"Interoperability of VoLTE between wireless carriers is crucial to a positive customer experience," added Krish Prabhu, president, AT&T Labs and Chief Technology Officer, AT&T. "Customers expect to be able to connect anywhere, anytime - and as LTE technology continues to evolve, it's imperative that we provide a seamless experience between carriers. We are pleased to work with Verizon on this initiative. We continue to work with others in the industry on similar collaborative arrangements and hope to see similar collaboration across the industry in the near future."
As Verizon pointed out in its press release, this collaboration with AT&T is only the first step toward boosting VoLTE interoperability. The carrier may soon strike similar agreements with other operators to further expand VoLTE services. T-Mobile, for instance, offers VoLTE on the Samsung Galaxy S5, Galaxy Light and Galaxy Note 3, as well as the LG G Flex.
