VoLTE stands for voice calls provisioned over a 4G LTE data network, rather than the circuit switched2G or 3G networks which are commonly used. VoLTE allows voice to become just another app that rides on a LTE data network.

Global telecoms like Verizon Wireless, Evolve Broadband (USA), O2 (Germany), TeliaSonera (Sweden), KT and SK Telecom (South Korea) and CSL Soft (Hong Kong) and China Mobile have already initiated deployment of VoLTE in their telecom networks.

VoLTE strategies

Bharti Airtel, a leading telecom operator in India, has launched 4G data services (but not Voice over LTE) across 333 cities in 6 circles. Vodafone India is presently in the process of expanding its 3G footprint and plans to roll out its initial 4G (minus VoLTE) network across 5 metros by end of 2015. It will have to focus on spectrum acquisition, company acquisition, spectrum trading or sharing deals to increase its 4G circles base.

Idea Cellular, the Aditya Birla group company, is in the process of rolling out LTE network and launch 4G by mid-2016 while maintaining that its business is all about voice and growth is still to be found amid new customers.

Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecom venture from Mukesh Ambani, is slated to launch high speed broadband in 18,000 cities across 29 states with 4G data and Voice over LTE in most of them by April 2016.

Airtel is currently offering unlimited voice with 4G data packs. 3GB data with unlimited calls within Airtel’s network cost Rs 999/month. Rs 1,999/month provides 7GB data with unlimited local and STD calls and free roaming. It is also offering free movies, music streaming and downloads on Wynk Movies and Wynk Music for 6 months.

Reliance Jio is expected to offer unlimited free voice, with 4G data at prices ranging between Rs 400 – 600 a pack. It further proposes to offer a host of built-in offerings like video-on-demand, RJio Money (online payment services), Jio Chat (voice and video chats) and Jio Beats to offer music streaming service.

Incumbent players like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea will actually bleed more and loose revenues to offer unlimited free voice packs along with 4G data to match or gain first mover advantage over VoLTE enabled Reliance Jio. That is because they only have 4G data not voice (which is still delivered on costly legacy 2G circuit switched networks) whereas Reliance Jio (with no legacy 2G network) will be rolling out 4G data and voice over data networks (VoLTE) , with its inherent strengths and cost benefits. The 2G/3G legacy telecoms will need to subsidise their voice tariffs to match inherently cheaper and efficient Voice over LTE tariffs and services.

VoLTE Advantages

By turning voice into IP packets, VoLTE enabled telecoms are able to offer high-quality voice calls, as well as Over The Top (OTT) services that Internet app developers presently offer over the open internet ironically provided by the telecoms themselves eating into telecoms’ voice revenues. VoLTE will thus enable telecoms to reduce the outflow of voice revenue being cannibalised by OTT app providers like WhatsApp, Skype and Hike that provide voice and video over telecoms data links. (Between 70 percent – 80 percent of revenues for an Indian telecoms comes from voice services).

When it comes to network requirements, VoLTE services allow higher battery life compared with using an over-the-top Voice over IP service such as Skype, consuming far less than a Skype voice call.

VoLTE also will enable telecoms to deliver a new set of standards-based services referred to as Rich Communications Services, or RCS. These services include things like video calling, file transferring, real time language translation, video voicemail and instant messaging. Many of these applications are already delivered over GSM data services but only by using third-party apps. For example, millions of people use WhatsApp for messenger services and voice calls and Skype for video calls. Similarly there is the Google Translate service. The benefit of VoLTE is that it lets you launch these services directly from the phone’s dialer without the need for opening a separate app.

These efforts are further boosted by the WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) initiative – a free, open source project (drafted by World Wide Web Consortium, W3C) that provides browsers and mobile applications(for voice calling, video chat,P2P file sharing) with Real-Time Communications (RTC) capabilities via simple APIs and without the need of internal or external plugins.

When the telecoms with 2G legacy networks deploy VoLTE, then voice would be delivered on the LTE data network, thus freeing up and allowing re-farming of the 2G frequencies (used for the traditional voice services) to support more profitable data services in the mobility, M2M/Internet of Things and cloud services space.

VoLTE Challenges

However, there’s no inter-carrier interoperability and roaming pacts among the VoLTE implementations being used as of today. This means that someone on say, Reliance Jio’s VoLTE network will not be able to make a VoLTE voice call to say a Verizon subscriber, who also has a VoLTE capable device, and vice versa. However, even though interoperability doesn’t exist today, it’s a work in progress and should be nailed sooner than later.

To tide over the challenge of lack of inter-carrier interoperability and roaming pacts in the initial phase of their 4G launches, telecoms will need to rely on the Circuit-Switched Fall Back (CSFB) mechanism that allows smartphones to access the Internet using 4G LTE and then switch to GSM or 3G for a voice call.

Voice on LTE Smart Phones using CSFB have multiple radio support but only one radio is active at a time, so while the user makes a call the device is pushed off the LTE network and goes to 2G/3G network to make voice calls
Since LTE coverage is presently scarce over the globe, operators have to use the CSFB as an interim solution to offer roaming to remote parts which have only GSM coverage. Both CSFB and VoLTE will need to co-exist as CSFB will help users to roam outside 4G coverage.

Data Bundled Pricing Models

The thinking is that VoLTE — which allows 4G networks to support voice calls — will help operators to provide voice services at a much cheaper cost to customers. Although prices in India are among the lowest in the world, traditional voice services are still thought to be at least ten times as expensive as those offered by OTT players.

Since VoLTE acts as just another data app, it will also help to bring an end to the old minutes pricing paradigm. Family plans in which customers get unlimited bundled voice and messaging services along with a big bucket of 4G data that they can consume across multiple devices would be the order of the day. One can expect device bundled offers with zero down payment schemes under which the customer will only have to ensure a certain guaranteed amount of spending on a monthly or on an annual basis.

Criticality of Device Strategy

As of now there are not many device manufactures focusing on VoLTE devices. Most have been making vanilla 4G smartphones. However, since Reliance Jio, the primary Indian player in the VoLTE space, believes that VoLTE is what is going to differentiate its services from other 4G networks of Airtel, Vodafone and Idea it has decided to launch its own brand of VoLTE “LYF” phones and also tied up with Micromax, LG, Intex and Lenovo. It plans to reach customers through its wide Reliance Retail distribution network, multi brand outlets, modern trade and through online channels like Flipkart with 4G VoLTE phones priced at Rs 4,000 onwards – the inflection price point for wider 4G adoption as believed by industry experts.

Initially though, affordable device bundled offers shall be the fastest way to drive uptake of data and voice services as well as ensure stickiness of the acquired customer base.

Apart from the technology advantages, it’s also the VoLTE device strategy that will determine its speed of acceptance and success in the country.

VoLTE is thus a major opportunity for Indian telecoms to not only recover the market they have lost to OTT providers like WhatsApp and Skype but at the same time provide high quality HD voice services at much cheaper than prevailing rates to customers. And with bundled VoLTE smartphones enabling data speeds 10 times that of 3G and a bouquet of rich real time services, one can only visualise a silent revolution in the offing.

These developments are part of the bigger changes taking place in the industry like IP-fication and upgrading of the networks. In the long run, as these technological improvements pick up, more of the incumbent telecoms are likely to realise the need to go the VoLTE way to defend their turf.

Either way, the customer, retail and enterprise, is in for a truly digital experience – high quality voice, fantastic data speeds and a bundle of real time RCS services at most competitive rates.

Sundeep Jauhar is an experienced telecom and IT business professional with extensive experience in building, turning around, operating and expanding independent businesses