Telefónica Germany said it has become the first operator to test and demonstrate the seamless handover of calls from Voice over LTE network to a 3G mobile network.
The company said this move paves the way for VoLTE services to co-exist with media-rich content in a significantly more efficient way than traditional wireless voice services. The handover tests were carried out in the operator's German laboratories within an environment that accurately simulates that of a real mobile network.
The Telefónica engineers claim they are the first to demonstrate LTE call handovers to 3G using the Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC) standard. Components were provided by at least six suppliers including Ericsson, Huawei and Nokia Siemens Networks, with Acme Packet, Qualcomm and Sony Mobile communications also involved.
"Telefónica has achieved a significant landmark with the successful testing of this mobile broadband network for the future," Telefónica CTO Enrique Blanco said in a statement. "Most importantly, however, is our ability to deliver the very best customer experience--which is at the core to our long-term network strategy."
Telefónica said the future benefits of VoLTE could include HD voice services, faster call set-up, HD video calling, chat applications and other rich-media services from any device or location.
For more:
- see this Telefónica release
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