A new report from Newfield Wireless says that since the introduction of Voice-over-LTE technology in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, U.S. carriers have experienced a big jump in VoLTE calls. VoLTE improves call quality by routing the calls through an LTE network.
The majority of voice calls made on other 4G-enabled devices are currently routed through legacy 2G and 3G networks, due to the fact that not all networks and devices are optimized to deliver next-generation voice services. iPhone 6 devices are VoLTE-compatible and as a result, U.S. networks have experienced a surge in VoLTE calls since the September launch.
Marc Bensadoun, CEO of Newfield Wireless, explained: “Overall call volumes have remained consistent, but 3G voice minutes have fallen considerably as a result of the uptake of 4G voice services, known as Voice-over LTE (VoLTE). The uptake of VoLTE calls has been triggered by the launch of the iPhone 6, and it demonstrates people like to try new services and have a desire for better quality calls. In fact, our data shows that many customers in the U.S. are now taking advantage of LTE, using their new iPhones to simultaneously enjoy LTE data and voice services on 4G networks.”
The report also notes some other interesting data from its research:
- On average, iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users are already consuming more 4G data than users on all iPhone 5 devices.
- The number of iPhone 6 handsets active on mobile networks is 5x the number of iPhone 6 Plus devices.
- The majority of iPhone 6 handsets that have appeared on mobile networks have been direct replacements of iPhone 5 devices.
Carriers in the U.S. have already started rolling out VoLTE support. Migration to VoLTE allows operators to drive network efficiencies and eliminate the need for a separate network to support voice traffic.
Verizon and AT&T have announced plans to introduce interoperability between their customers. Before VoLTE interoperability, the feature would only work on an LTE-to-LTE device call between devices on the same network.
