Canadian tech company to help carriers implement VoLTE

Sandvine Inc., a Canadian company that provides software to telecommunications service providers around the world, said Wednesday that it has added capabilities enabling it to help carriers offer voice services on both LTE and WiFi networks. Dan Deeth, spokesman for the Waterloo, Ont.-based company, said the "service delivery engine" software it provides to mobile operators will now allow them to create VoLTE (voice-over-LTE) and VoWiFi (voice-over-WiFi) services, as well as generate data on the performance of these services in comparison to competitors. "It's a standard piece of mobile architecture that fits in there," Deeth said in a phone interview. Deeth said he's unaware of Canadian mobile carriers' plans regarding either LTE- or WiFi-based voice services, but noted some U.S. service providers have taken advantage of this technology, such as T-Mobile US Inc. with VoLTE, and Cablevision Systems Corp., which offers VoWiFi service in the New York City area. "You'll see a lot of carriers begin rolling it out in 2015 and into 2016," Deeth said. Deeth would not disclose any specific customers. VoLTE improves the quality of audio for cellphones to something more comparable to landline phones, Deeth said. Over the longer term, it's more cost-effective for carriers, since they currently have to maintain older networks that run on technology such as CDMA and HSPA in order to carry voice calls, he said. There are a limited number of devices capable of VoLTE, though that should also increase in the near future, Deeth said. Apple Inc.'s iPhone 6, released earlier this year, is capable of VoLTE connections, as are some of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.'s latest Galaxy smartphones. The software works with both apps, such as Microsoft Corp.'s Skype, that can be used for WiFi calling on many smartphones, and WiFi calling that's built into devices by carriers, Deeth said. Carriers need to operate their own hotspots to take full advantage of Sandvine's new capabilities, he added. He said Sandvine offers other billing-related applications for carriers that want to track WiFi calling for payment purposes. Alex Pavlović, director of technology for research company Nordicity, said in an email that Sandvine's new offerings fall short of being "revolutionary," adding that Amdocs Inc. announced similar support for VoLTE last year. "Sandvine is pretty much following in these footsteps, and doing something more with VoWiFi," Pavlović said, adding that "there are several ways of handling VoWiFi traffic." Stephan Meyer, a former analyst with Nordicity, told The Wire Report in June that carriers have recently become more willing to move toward implementing VoLTE capabilities, despite it being technologically possible for years. Efforts are being made internationally to promote WiFi as a way of handling increasing levels of mobile traffic that's less expensive than buying spectrum and building cell towers. Wireless service providers BCE Inc., Telus Corp. and Rogers Communications Inc. did not comment Wednesday when asked about their potential plans for VoLTE or VoWiFi service, nor did Shaw Communications Inc., which provides 55,000 WiFi hotspots across Western Canada and parts of northern Ontario for its Internet customers. — With reporting by Derek Abma at dabma@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Canadian tech company to help carriers implement VoLTE

News | February 11, 2015

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Canadian tech company to help carriers implement VoLTE

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