51 networks in 38 countries HD

voice ready

A report from the GSA (Global mobile Suppliers Association) confirms that 51 mobile networks in 38 countries have launched HD voice services.

The number of mobile networks now offering customers HD voice service is 60% higher than a year ago.

Mobile HD Voice uses Adaptive Multi Rate Wideband technology (W-AMR, standardized by 3GPP), enabling high-quality voice calls in supporting mobile networks and an improved user experience. It provides significantly higher voice quality for calls between mobile phones supporting the feature, and is market reality on numerous GSM, WCDMA-UMTS, and LTE networks today.

HD Voice services are commercially launched on mobile networks in Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong S.A.R., India, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mauritius, Moldova, The Netherlands, The Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Réunion, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, UAE, Uganda, and the UK.

HD Voice service is offered by competing mobile operators in 11 markets – Austria, Canada, Croatia, France, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, South Korea, Switzerland, Turkey and UK.

International HD Voice calling has been introduced for the first time on mobile networks. Starting this month, customers of Orange in Romania and the Moldova Republic can now make HD calls between the two countries.

GSA has also published an update on the number of models of HD voice phones which have been launched in the market. The new report confirms 127 phones supporting HD Voice (W-AMR) have been announced by 14 manufacturers, including the most popular brands, and products for professional broadcasters. This figure compares with 52 HD voice phones which had been announced a year ago.  Most of these devices operate on 3G/HSPA networks, with some working on GSM networks and some on LTE networks (VoLTE).  

Alan Hadden, President of GSA, said: “The number of models of HD voice phones which have been announced more than doubled in the past year, and over 50 networks have launched HD voice service. To continue the market development, all smartphones need to ship with W-AMR activated by default.”

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 parties use HD Voice-capable phones. Improvements in call quality are also often observed even when calling a non-HD Voice phone, due to improvements in the acoustic performance and advanced noise reduction capabilities which are present in most HD Voice phones.

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