U.S. telecommunications company Verizon has announced that it will roll out Voice Over LTE service (VoLTE) in the coming months.
On Tuesday, May 20, Verizon announced that the company is expected to roll out the services to its customers nationwide towards the end of this year. VoLTE enables customers to make voice calls on compatible smartphones over the LTE network technology that were previously data only. The service will allow customers to make better quality (HD Voice) phone calls.
"Choosing a national rollout on the nation's largest 4G LTE network, Verizon can deliver a seamless customer experience for high-quality calling and other features. From the beginning, Verizon's VoLTE service will offer an HD Voice experience, using the AMR-wideband standard, the accepted industry norm for this service. This solution provides the best voice quality available now and allows for future interoperability with others using the standard," per Verizon's press release.
On May 15, AT&T also made an announcement that it would roll out VoLTE from May 23 onwards. The company said that the service will begin from May 23 in select markets. VoLTE will enable customers to finally be able to simultaneously access fast Internet and at the same time also make crystal clear phone calls.
It seems that Verizon does not want to lag behind the competition and AT&T's announcement may have fueled Verizon to announce the roll of VoLTE. Verizon confirmed that it will be necessary for both the caller and receiver of the phone call to have VoLTE-enabled smartphones and both parties should be in the area where the telecommunications provider offers the service.
Verizon also took the opportunity to announce that it will also launch a video calling service towards the end of this year as part of the countrywide roll out of VoLTE. The video calling service will be similar to Apple's FaceTime app or the video calling service provided by Skype and customers will be able to make voice calls on their smartphones.
"Verizon's VoLTE will also offer video calling options, including making and receiving video calls directly from contact lists. As part of the VoLTE video calling experience, customers have the ability to change their calls instantly from voice-only to voice and video. The rollout also sets the stage for future enhancements through Rich Communications Services (RCS), which enable things like including large file transfer, more robust group messaging, and more location sharing," reads the Verizon press release.
Verizon says that the company will also launch VoLTE-enabled smartphones in the near term so that customers can take advantage of the services.
