Telecom network vendor Alcatel-Lucent says – quoting a study — its Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) provides better service than 3G Circuit Switched (CS) voice and Internet calling services and Skype software.

Quoting an independent research done by Signals Research Group, Alcatel-Lucent said VoLTE call quality exceeded that of 3G CS voice and was higher than the HD voice service offered by Skype. The report came in the wake of several reports suggesting that VoLTE is facing uncertain future or slow growth.

Infonetics Research earlier said the number of VoLTE commercial services launched to date reached 8 in June 2014 from 4 last year, and 3 in South Korea in 2012.

Also read: VoLTE: No business case yet?

The research report will be a boost for Alcatel-Lucent that shipped more than 109 million VoLTE licenses worldwide as of

 

June 2014.

Fran Heeran, general manager of Alcatel-Lucent’s IMS Business, said: “VoLTE is a key element of the IP communication revolution. VoLTE enables service providers to introduce new services and consolidate their networks. They can refarm their 3G spectrum to their LTE network to deliver better service and enhanced and personalized broadband experience.”

Also read: Global VoLTE revenue to touch around $3 bn by 2017, says Infonetics Research

The report says VoLTE was considerably better than Skype with network loading and in particular with background applications running on the mobile phone and transferring data with the network.

The report said VoLTE call setup time was nearly twice as fast as 3G Circuit Switched Fallback (CSFB) call setup. VoLTE used substantially fewer network resources than Skype voice, which in turn resulted in longer estimated device battery life for the subscriber and a more efficient network for the operator.

When leaving LTE coverage, VoLTE calls were handed over to 3G CS voice. The network’s enhanced Single Radio Voice Call Continuity ensures calls continue without interruption. The research was from June to July 2014 to evaluate the performance of VoLTE against 3G CS voice and Skype.

The research was done within a commercially active VoLTE market where Alcatel-Lucent provides the radio access network, the core network and IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem), including the primary VoLTE functionality.

Tests were conducted for everyday conditions, including stationary and mobile locations, strong and weak radio coverage, and under a variety of network loading and multi-tasking conditions. The research found that VoLTE delivers a consistently higher call quality than OTT voice applications.

Alcatel-Lucent wants more IP and LTE revenues

Alcatel-Lucent suggests that telecom operators should also strongly consider the long-term network savings associated with VoLTE, given that it takes advantage of advanced features that allow it to use far less network resources when it comes to supporting a voice call when compared with current OTT voice applications.

Michael Thelander, CEO of Signals Research Group (SRG), said: “While other network or background traffic downloading on a smartphone could bring Skype voice to its knees, there was no indication that it impacted the VoLTE call.  In addition, VoLTE really shined when it came to its network requirements, consuming far less than a Skype voice call which translates into a meaningfully longer smartphone battery life.”

Alcatel-Lucent is betting on IP – as part of its new Shift Plan strategy – to gain additional revenue from the telecom market. A report from TBR said IP Platforms’ revenues typically swing wildly quarter-to-quarter as the company fleshes out its portfolio.

In Q2 2014, IP Platforms revenue of Alcatel-Lucent declined 22.3 percent.

LTE is a lifeline for Alcatel-Lucent.

Michael Soper, telecom analyst, TBR, earlier said revenue from LTE in China buoyed Alcatel-Lucent’s total revenue in Q2 as China Mobile and China Telecom continued rolling out LTE coverage.

However, total revenue decreased 4.7 percent primarily due to sharply declining sales in the Managed Services segment, which the company deemphasized as part of restructuring. Alcatel-Lucent will benefit from LTE sales growth in China throughout 2014 and into 2015, pushing year-to-year revenue growth into the low single-digits in H2 2014.

Baburajan K