Telecomunicazioni
LTE Now Ready for Use With Voice and Video Telephony
The new LTE mobile data transfer standard can now be used for seamless handover of voice calls and video telephony from LTE to legacy 3G/UMTS networks. As LTE network coverage is still restricted at this early stage, new technology had to be developed to enable users to switch seamlessly from LTE back to existing 3G/UMTS networks during the course of a call without any perceived interruptions. Until now, this had proved impossible, presenting network operators piloting LTE technology throughout Europe with a major challenge. T-Mobile Austria and Huawei, working with Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. (QTI), a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, have now demonstrated voice call continuity from LTE to 3G/UMTS network following the 3GPP Rel. 10 standard.
In the future, users throughout Europe will be able to switch from LTE to standard mobile telephone networks without any noticeable interruptions. This now means that nothing stands in the way of a changeover to LTE voice-enabled mobile telephones and other state-of-the-art handsets for users across the continent.
The advantages of this new Voice over LTE (VoLTE) technology include crystal clear call quality as well as generally faster connection speeds. The new technology and only solution of its kind in Europe was unveiled at the T-Mobile Austria and Huawei Innovation Center in Vienna on Friday, October 12, 2012 .
LTE - from data to voice standard
The solution introduced by T-Mobile Austria and Huawei will make exceptionally high quality calls using LTE technology a reality. The changeover process from LTE to an alternative network is now completely seamless, with the moment of the switch not discernible to the caller - a step forward that had been unattainable, until now. Thanks to state-of-the art network switching technology from Huawei and VoLTE test mobile phones based on Qualcomm Snapdragon™ S4 processor MSM8960 chipset, the breakthrough guarantees a smooth changeover to Voice over LTE for mobile network operators across Europe .
This achievement represents a significant milestone in the introduction of voice calls via LTE in Europe . This underlines T-Mobile's position as innovation leader in the Austrian market.
T-Mobile Austria CTO Rüdiger Köster explained: "Our successful pilot project showed that not only rapid data transfer, but also Voice over LTE technology is ready for wide spread commercial use. Huawei and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. clearly proved their credentials and demonstrated their problem-solving expertise during the course of the venture with T-Mobile."
Daniel Zhou , CEO of Huawei Austria added: "This unique solution has enabled us to eliminate a number of previously insurmountable technical problems. Now that we have found a way to seamlessly switch to standard mobile telephone networks during the course of an active call, operators can rapidly move over to LTE technology while assuring continued customer satisfaction throughout Europe . The successful project with Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and T-Mobile Austria means that Voice over LTE has proven the readiness of this leading edge technology."
Huawei's Voice over LTE solution was recently crowned the Best New LTE Product Launch and was one of the highlights of the 9th annual IMS World Forum in Madrid this year.
Press pictures to download: http://www.apa-fotoservice.at/galerie/3502
About Huawei
About T-Mobile Austria
In 2011 T-Mobile invested around € 100 million in the network with a specific focus on the roll out of HSPA+ and the next generation mobile network LTE. T-Mobile Austria has 1.400 employees. In 2011 the company was awarded as one of the most attractive employers in Austria from Aon Hewitt . T-Mobile's headquarter the T-Center is based in Vienna on the Rennweg near the "Südost-Tangente". Next to 48 T-Mobile shops T-Mobile also has sales offices in Salzburg , Innsbruck, Graz and Klagenfurt. T-Mobile Austria is a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG and hence, belongs to one of the world's leading companies in telecommunications. The company's international outlook allows T-Mobile customers to benefit from a wide range of products and services, both at home and abroad.
Huawei Technologies Austria GmbH
Catharina Rieder
T: +43-676-628-90-18
E: press.austria@huawei.com
W: http://www.huawei.com
T-Mobile Austria
Barbara Holzbauer
T: +43-676-8200-6017
E: barbara.holzbauer@t-mobile.at
W: http://www.t-mobile.at