When T-Mobile held its Uncarrier event it announced that it would also begin selling the iPhone 5 on its network, one of the perks of T-Mobile's new 4G LTE network is that it would be able to tap into the iPhone 5's Wideband Audio or HD Voice feature. Carriers outside of the U.S. have offered the service, but T-Mobile was the first U.S. carrier to announce full support for the feature. In order for HD Voice to work both the network and the hardware must support the feature. AT&T does not like to be outdone by T-Mobile so it has announced that it will support HD Voice this year.
All Things D is reporting that while at a VentureBeat Mobile Summit, AT&T senior VP Kris Rinne said that the carrier would be rolling out support for the technology later this year when it begins routing voice calls through its LTE network. "HD Voice is part of our voice over LTE strategy," Rinne said.
AT&T iPhone 5 owners have something to look forward to. Gizmodo tested T-Mobile's iPhone 5 HD Voice feature and found:
"Calling from one T-Mobile iPhone to another, my caller's voice came through loud and clear. You know how sometimes cell-to-cell voice calls can sound a little fragmented? Like little bits of sounds are being dropped? This didn't have that. It was a much more natural sounded call. It was a bit richer, and definitely fuller. I wouldn't say it was like night and day, but it's definitely a noticeable improvement."
