Vodafone Australia this week announced that the first customers to use voice over LTE (VoLTE) services on its network will be connected in December.
Initially the service will only be available to customers with certain Samsung handsets: the Galaxy S6, the S6 Edge, the S6 Edge + and the Note 5.
Users with those phones will have access to VoLTE before Christmas, Vodafone said. Existing customers will be offered an over-the -air update or smartphone upgrade to enable them to use VoLTE.
"As soon as customers receive the update on their device, they’re good to go," said Benoit Hanssen, Vodafone’s chief technology officer.
The feature will be rolled out to all postpaid and prepaid customers next year. New devices will come with VoLTE already installed.
"We expect the number of customers with VoLTE-capable devices to increase rapidly over the next few years as more smartphone manufacturer s incorporate the feature into new models," Hanssen said.
Vodafone announced the completion of successful VoLTE trials in February and said it would make the technology available to customers this year, a deadline it will just meet with its pre-Christmas launch plan.
At the time it said it wanted to carry out further extensive testing before making VoLTE commercially available.
This week Hanssen reiterated the benefits of VoLTE, including shorter call set-up times and longer battery life on some smartphones, as well as the ability to make video calls over 4G and to use data services while carrying out a voice call.
"This is the first step to moving all voice traffic over to 4G," Hanssen said.
"In terms of the network, VoLTE means enhanced spectral efficiency with 2.3 times more users per MHz," he added. "It will also support the re-farming of our spectrum from 3G to 4G so that we can continue to provide great data speeds as traffic grows."
The CTO also noted that Vodafone plans to bring voice over WiFi (VoWiFi) to market "in the near future."
