Airtel to launch VoLTE in key markets in next one year: CEO Gopal Vittal

[rahul1117kumar]

Bharti Airtel ’s chief executive Gopal Vittal said that the telco will move to voice over LTE ( VoLTE ) technology in key markets in the next 12-18 months.

In an investor call on Wednesday, the top executive said that VoLTE will be very relevant in key markets or big cities in next 12-18 month.

“… and even as sub-GHz band is best in deploying voice, 1,800 Mhz band is also very good.We are future-proofing our network for VoLTE and looking at deploying equipment switch in key markets,” he said.

Bharti Airtel late last year awarded a $60 million (402 crore) pan-India deal to Finnish gear maker Nokia to implement voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) calling technology. Airtel has been piloting the technology in a few areas and after successful testing, it may launch in key markets, ET earlier reported.

VoLTE allows an operator to offer both voice and data without switching between bands, with voice being just another application that rides on an LTE data network, a technology that newcomer Reliance Jio has adopted. Airtel currently offers calling on the legacy circuit-switch technology.

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio Infocomm is the only operator that is currently offering pan-Indian VoLTE-based voice calling service to its over 72 million customers in India. The 4G entrant is using Nokia’s IMS solution to offer the technology.

Besides the cost factor, VoLTE brings benefits such as spectral efficiency, which may help telcos tackle call drops situation to an extent. Furthermore, VoLTE as a technology offers various advantages such as better smartphone battery life, less call set up time and better voice quality.

Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, the country’s second and third largest telecom carriers, could also join the VoLTE race soon, having bolstered their 4G spectrum holdings in the recently-concluded auctions. Vodafone is already trialling VoLTE in select areas using Nokia’s IMS solution, while Idea Cellular is in advanced talks with both Ericsson and Nokia, and is likely to award the deal in coming days, sources earlier told ET.

Airtel VoLTE: airtel to launch volte in key markets in next one year: ceo gopal vittal, Telecom News, ET Telecom

 

[Sarkar]

Without Volte it's impossible to provide unlimited voice. So it seems voice will be restricted in Airtel  :s

 

[iSK]

Now a good news :dodgy

 

[thisisjagan]

Even with VOLTE, Jio needs to pay interconnect charges of 10p/min. TRAI will have to decide on interconnect charges for volte. It's not free currently. So Jio isn't offering unlimited calls because of VOLTE.

 

[Sarkar]

Volte is the reason why Jio calls are free. You don't need physical switches and huge bandwidth to connect calls 

 

[thisisjagan]

Volte is the reason why Jio calls are free. You don't need physical switches and huge bandwidth to connect calls 

Ok does Jio pay interconnect charge?

 

[Siva]

Ok does Jio pay interconnect charge?

Yes

 

[thisisjagan]

Yes

Then why it's impossible for non volte operators to provide unlimited calls. Even though there are technical advantages in volte, Jio still pays interconnect charges. It's not absolutely free for them right.

 

[Saj 007]

Then why it's impossible for non volte operators to provide unlimited calls. Even though there are technical advantages in volte, Jio still pays interconnect charges. It's not absolutely free for them right.

The other operators always like to looting customers. So they are not interested to give freebies like Jio..

 

[thisisjagan]

The other operators always like to looting customers. So they are not interested to give freebies like Jio..

Well said.... Once upon a time, corporate postpaid users used to enjoy low tariff, now prepaid is very cheap...