DOCOMO PACIFIC announced it is planning to launch commercial VoLTE in Guam and the CNMI.

Scheduled for July 2019, the launch will mark the first commercial VoLTE services in Guam and the CNMI.

The service will be delivered free of cost to existing customers.

On June 19th, DOCOMO PACIFIC engineers made the first commercial VoLTE call on Guam and the following day they made the first VoLTE call to Saipan.

VoLTE delivers HD Voice calls with minimal background noise, making it much easier and clearer for both people on a call to hear one another.

The mixture of voice and data to make calls will produce faster call setup times and quicker connections. Additionally, VoLTE services are less power intensive than calls being made over a 3G connection, resulting in better battery life, the company said.

VoLTE allows the efficient use of network resources, helping to lower operational costs. With the use of VoLTE, voice traffic is routed over the 4G LTE network used to transmit data, freeing up spectrum for the 5G technology that DOCOMO PACIFIC will launch soon.

“VoLTE is the future of voice communications and we can’t wait for our customers to have a higher quality experience while talking with family and friends,” said Roderick Boss, president and CEO, DOCOMO PACIFIC.

“As we prepare to launch 5G technology soon, VoLTE is another step in our journey to be the technology leader and bring the best and fastest services to our customers,” Boss said.

In March 2019, NTT DOCOMO was the first to bring 5G to Guam with the opening of the DOCOMO 5G Open Lab Guam. The 5G Open Lab allows worldwide partners including businesses on Guam to test the first 5G environment and co-create practical solutions using 5G.