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T-Mobile launches VoLTE in its own backyard ahead of support planned for iPhone 6/iOS 8

iphonevolte

Following announcements earlier this month from both AT&T and Verizon, T-Mobile announced today it’s introducing Voice over LTE support starting with the Seattle market:

So I’m thrilled to congratulate my team on the launch of Voice over LTE (VoLTE) in the Seattle area for our existing LG G Flex and Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Light customers. Our friends at MetroPCS were the first to launch VoLTE in the U.S. back in 2012, and we’ve been working hard on a LTE Advanced version of VoLTE, which we plan to roll out to more T-Mobile customers throughout the coming year.

T-Mobile’s CTO Neville Ray noted that the new technology, which brings voice calls onto the same LTE radio layer previously reserved for data, will allow “faster call setup times (almost twice as fast as a non-VoLTE call setup) and the ability to enjoy lightening fast LTE data speeds while on a call.” It will also support the HD Voice or wide-band audio feature that Apple already supports. Ray explained how the technology works:

VoLTE calls will be carried over IP on our LTE network instead of a circuit-switched path on our 4G HSPA+ network. This is advantageous because your phone stays on our wicked fast LTE network to make a call. The tricky bit in all this is the smooth mobility between our various radio layers. Enhanced Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (eSRVCC) is a new LTE Advanced function and we’re excited to be the first to deploy it in the U.S. All of this basically helps ensure that your capable phone won’t drop a call if you leave an LTE area and it switches to 4G HSPA+ or 2G coverage.

While the iPhone’s current chipset does support voice over LTE, Apple is yet to make software side changes to support the technology. We previously reported that Apple might be planning to change that in time for iOS 8 and the iPhone 6 just as carriers are rolling out support:

Another significant addition being considered for iOS 8 and the next-generation iPhone is voice-over-LTE support (VoLTE), according to carrier sources. Currently, when an LTE-capable iPhone needs to make a phone call, the actual call is placed over last generation networks such as 3G. With VoLTE, calls will be transmitted over the same type of network that LTE data is processed through, and this can allow for benefits such as improved call quality.

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Comments

  1. Taste_of_Apple - 10 years ago

    This should be really cool. High definition voice is something that will help to make phone calls a lot more bearable provided you have a good service in your area.

  2. quandmeme - 10 years ago

    Others have asked but I’ve yet to hear an answer how the carriers with unlimited voice but metered data plans handle volte. Feels like a bait and switch if they free up voice calls but then recharacterize voice as data.

    • Tim Jr. - 10 years ago

      Yes.. though I’m less worried about it on T-Mo than Verizon and ATT.. they love bait’n switch!

      • therapcat - 10 years ago

        AT&T can distinguish the volte data from normal data so it should be a problem if they don’t want voice data to charge against your data bucket. I would be more worried with tmobile as they throttle your data speed after a certain data limit. Imagine having your voice calls dropped because your data is throttled.

      • mayankkaul - 10 years ago

        Therapcat below obviously isnt aware of a lot of things.
        1. Every carrier can distinguish VoLTE data from normal data.
        2. Every carrier throttles data speed, based off your purchased plan.
        3. throttling will “Never” apply against voice calls, infact voice calls over LTE have highest priority, so they go before anything else.

  3. myke2241 - 10 years ago

    Great, something else we can be over charged for.

  4. Toro Volt (@torovolt) - 10 years ago

    I’ve been using Voice over LTE (Free T-Mobile) since last year with my iPad mini.
    Just use any VoIP App and pay just for Data services, Free with TMobile or FreedomPop.

  5. Pierre Calixte - 10 years ago

    now with volte will we be able to use our wifi to make phone calls and if so, can I use this over seas. now that would be awesome.

  6. Ugh… that design concept is terrible! Why are people using it?

Author

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jordan Kahn

Jordan writes about all things Apple as Senior Editor of 9to5Mac, & contributes to 9to5Google, 9to5Toys, & Electrek.co. He also co-authors 9to5Mac’s Logic Pros series.