A new report by GSA (the Global mobile Suppliers Association) is said to confirm how operator investments in mobile HD Voice network deployments and trials are expanding across Europe and worldwide.
Mobile HD Voice uses Adaptive Multi Rate Wideband technology (W-AMR) standardized by 3GPP, and enables high-quality voice calls in mobile networks and an improved user experience. It provides significantly higher voice quality for calls between mobile phones supporting the feature, and can be implemented in GSM and WCDMA (UMTS) networks.
GSA’s Mobile HD Voice: Global Update report, published June 3, 2011, confirms that 40% of countries in the European Union have commercially launched mobile HD Voice services, or are engaged in trials and tests ahead of planned commercial introduction. Furthermore, operator investments in mobile HD Voice extend far beyond Europe.
The first commercial mobile HD Voice service was introduced in September 2009. HD Voice services are now launched on 20 mobile networks in 18 countries and territories – Armenia, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Egypt, France, Hong Kong, India, Italy, La Réunion, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Spain, Turkey, and the UK.
Trials and network deployments of HD Voice ahead of planned commercial introduction are also progressing in Australia, Austria, the Dominican Republic, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland, UAE and the USA.
A total of 33 HD Voice-capable phones are available from leading manufacturers including Alcatel, HTC, LG, Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson. Many of the latest products are shipping with the HD Voice capability activated as default.
Alan Hadden, President of the GSA, said: “The availability of HD Voice on mobile networks is quickly spreading. HD Voice enabled by W-AMR technology is the most significant development in the mobile voice service for many years.”
There is a strong business case for Mobile HD Voice. Customers make more, or longer, calls with HD Voice, and highly value the service. HD Voice helps operators to clearly differentiate their offerings and enable high quality services to voice dependent business like call center services, information services, emergency services, etc. HD Voice is also ideal for conference calls and can contribute to a reduction in business travel and raise productivity while reducing the environmental impact. Calls which are easier to hear and understand reduce the fatigue typically associated with long conference calls.
The maximum benefits from using HD Voice on a mobile HD-capable network are realized or perceived when both calling and called party use HD Voice-capable phones. However, improvements in call quality are also observed even when calling a non-HD Voice phone, due to improvements in the acoustic performance and advanced noise reduction capabilities present in most HD Voice phones.
The report includes links to several demonstrations of HD Voice phone quality.