Telstra has announced the rollout of voice over LTE (VOLTE) for its mobile postpaid customers has commenced, stating it will be progressively enabling the new 4G calling capability.The rollout will be staggered, gradually enabling the full-HD capability for different types of calls, such as 4G to 4G, 4G to fixed and 4G to 3G, with postpaid consumer customers to initially be gradually enabled, later extending to business and enterprise customers, as well as prepaid customers.
“VoLTE is the next generation of how voice calls are carried over our network,” Mike Wright, Telstra Operations group managing director of networks, stated via a blog post announcing rollout of the service.
“In those 4G areas where VoLTE has been enabled, when customers make a voice call on a VoLTE-enabled handset, the call is integrated into the 4G LTE data stream rather than the previous arrangement of reverting back to 3G.”
Wright stated 4G calling will allow customers to “maintain a full 4G experience during a call”, with voice and data staying on the same part of the network, therefore “delivering faster data access while using the internet as well as super-fast call set-up times”.
VoLTE will be available in most parts of Telstra’s network from the start where 3G and 4G coverage is available, with the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus to be among the first enabled devices, along with Samsung’s Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 edge+, with other devices including the latest Sony Xperia smartphones.
Telstra, in collaboration with Netgear, Ericsson and Qualcomm, has also launched what it states is the world’s first 600 Mbps-capable Category 11 device.
The Telstra WiFi 4GX Advanced III Mobile Broadband Hotspot, which employs 3 band carrier aggregation technology, supports up to 15 Wi-Fi-enabled devices simultaneously.
“Customers in a 4GX-enabled area can securely share blazing fast Wi-Fi with friends, family and co-workers while on the go,” Telstra stated.
“The hotspot automatically switches between 4GX, 4G and 3G coverage in areas where 4GX is not yet available. With its powerful battery, customers can connect for up to 11 hours of continuous use or 260 hours on standby.”
The early Cat 11-enabled footprint is concentrated initially in the CBDs of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra, Telstra advised, along with selected popular holiday locations, with network reach supporting Cat 11 speeds to continue to expand in line with growing mobile data demand.
