Voice Services

Voice-over-LTE could cause industry fragmentation, claims study

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:17:11 -0400

While the role of LTE in providing super-fast mobile data services has received widespread operator commitment, disagreements over how voice services will be carried over LTE infrastructure are in danger of causing the kind of technology fragmentation that occurred in 3G networks.

This issue, claims John Blau, research analyst with Unstrung Insider and author of the study, has been caused by the lack of progress in developing voice-over-LTE applications within IMS. "Over the coming months, operators, vendors and the 3GPP standards body will face some tough decisions. For those operators that believe voice is absolutely essential to have in their LTE service portfolio from the start, interim solutions will be necessary to fill the gap created by the slow progress of IMS. These interim solutions could trigger the technology disruption we saw in 3G networks."

According to Blau's study, the key findings are:

The VoLGA Forum, which proposes an interim packetised approach to carrying voice traffic over LTE, has completed the third and final phase of its specification process and will pursue standardisation during 2010.
One major OEM in the VoLGA Forum has no plans to develop, manufacture and market the interim voice-over-LTE solution.
Most equipment vendors shy away from providing exact information about their planned LTE voice products and their availability.
Over-the-top VoIP players may pose a greater threat to network-based mobile service players than many of them are willing to believe.
The IMS platform has been slow in coming to the mobile world, and many now fear it has become too complex.

"Nearly everyone in the mobile phone industry agrees that LTE is the way forward for data, but that consensus does not extend to voice over LTE as yet," states Blau. "Some mobile operators view LTE initially as a data-only play and do not see a powerful case for rushing into voice, while other operators are worried that LTE without voice could be off to a difficult start."

For more on this story:
Cellular News

Germany: A declining voice market, but huge mobile data potential, claims new study

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:14:53 -0400

Service revenues in Germany are expected to be lower this year than 2008 by around 1-2 per cent, as consumers become more careful when renewing their mobile subscription. This forecast, from the market research firm Telecompaper, doesn't believe that this decline is due to the overall economic situation, but caused by the commoditisation of mobile voice services as penetration reaches over 130 per cent.

While this revenue slide is not being counterbalanced by the growth of mobile data usage, the study maintains that German operators have fast-tracked the development of data-rich applications. This refocusing is designed to improve profit margins as voice ARPUs continue to fall in response to competition from resellers and regulatory measures on roaming and termination rates.

To support this emphasis on mobile apps, the four operators (albeit that Vodafone and T-Mobile dominate the market with each having around 35 per cent of overall user base) have invested heavily in upgrading their networks. To help with this, the German regulator has anticipated future growth by preparing for fresh UMTS licences in 2009 in the 1.8GHz and 2.6GHz bands, as well as refarming spectrum below 1GHz for use by mobile broadband.

This shift towards mobile apps comes as the competition within the mobile voice market continues to increase with SIM-only deals becoming increasingly popular and nearly 30 MVNOs now operational. And, despite increases in voice usage, ARPUs have experienced sustained erosion over the past five year dropping by €9 since 2004.

For more on this story:
See this data
Consultant Value Added

LTE voice: T-Mobile alone in pushing specs

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:20:43 -0400

Regardless of being the only mobile operator involved in the Voice over LTE via Generic Access (VoLGA) Forum, T-Mobile International is pushing ahead with its efforts to introduce an alternative way to deliver voice services over LTE networks. The group plans to publish the second version of the VoLGA spec which it hopes will bring it closer to a final document ready for submission to the 3GPP standards body by year end.

According to an Unstrung report, the VoLGA initiative is at the centre of disagreements within the mobile industry over how to support legacy circuit-switched voice and SMS services. Operators remain undecided regarding the preferred method to deliver these services, and Nokia Siemens Networks has broken away from backing VoLGA and is believed to be developing a proprietary solution.

Given that some operators are planning to deploy LTE next year, the lack of an agreed approach for voice-over-LTE is causing increased concern to advocates of the technology--heightened by the impact this could have on the industry's biggest sources of service revenue generation, voice and SMS.

For more on this story:
Unstrung

German operators split over mobile VoIP strategy

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 13 May 2009 13:15:33 -0400

Having encountered political opposition to their stance on allowing mobile VoIP calls across their network, T-Mobile Deutschland and Vodafone Deutschland have backed away from their statements that they would not sell Nokia handsets with integrated Skype software. Both operators have confirmed they are investigating the possibilities of offering special tariffs for mobile VoIP use instead of blocking the service. T-Mobile Deutschland had defended its hard-line position last month by claiming mobile VoIP overloaded its network and it didn't want to be responsible for the QoS aspects of Skype.

While these two operators change their approach to mobile VoIP, their two rivals--E-Plus and O2 Germany--have admitted they had no active plans to launch special tariffs for these IP-based voice services. E-Plus spokesman, Klaus Schulze-Loewenberg, said the operator has no plans for such special tariffs or for changing its general conditions that currently prohibited the use of mobile VoIP services. O2 Germany spokesman, Harald Maass, said although no plans exist, the operator is looking into a possible change in strategy.

For more on this story:
Trading Markets and Telegeography

Repackaging of existing services to remain competitive - Top 5 Trends

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:10:06 -0400

With the bulk of mobile revenue still being generated by voice services, there will be increased pressure on operators to remain competitive and differentiate themselves in the marketplace. This will lead to an upsurge in the bundling--or repackaging, of services, including home zones, flat-rate options, more minutes/ text messages and discounted roaming and data download tariffs.