25 telecom operators in 16 countries have commercially launched VoLTE-based HD voice service as compared with 3 in March 2014, said GSA.

The telecom analysis report said that 103 operators are investing in VoLTE deployments, trials or studies in 49 countries. Mobile
vendors have announced 219 VoLTE-capable devices including 198 smartphones that will support the growth of VoLTE.

The number of telecom operators, who have launched LTE, is 422 in 143 countries as compared with 106 operators in the past year.

GSA said 677 operators are investing in LTE across 181 countries. This comprises 638 firm network deployment commitments in 176 countries (of which 422 networks have launched), and 39 pre-commitment trials in a further 5 countries.

More than 30 percent of telecom operators are investing in LTE-Advanced system deployments. 88 operators, i.e. over 20 percent of LTE operators, have commercially launched LTE-Advanced service in 45 countries. 15 LTE-Advanced networks support Category 4 devices (above 100 Mbps up to 150 Mbps peak downlink speed) while 73 networks support Category 6 devices (above 150 Mbps up to 300 Mbps).

83 percent of LTE-Advanced networks support Category 6 and the majority (37) support the top rate of 300 Mbps. Several operators are trialing LTE-Advanced technology capable of supporting Category 9 devices (above 300 Mbps up to 450 Mbps) and beyond.

187 telecom networks are using LTE1800 in 89 countries representing 44 percent of LTE network deployments. 100 networks are using 2.6 GHz contiguous band. 91 networks are using 800 MHz, said GSA.

90 percent telecoms are using paired spectrum using the FDD mode. 59 operators or 1 in 7 of all LTE operators, have launched LTE service using the TDD mode in 35 countries. 2.3 GHz is the most widely deployed spectrum. 17 operators have deployed both FDD and TDD modes in their networks. 11 operators have commercially launched LTE using 700 MHz band 28 FDD spectrum.

Baburajan K
[email protected]