Beating AT&T and Verizon to the punch, T-Mobile launches VoLTE on three handsets in the Seattle area.

Sarah Thomas, Director, Women in Comms

May 22, 2014

2 Min Read
T-Mobile Beats AT&T, Verizon to VoLTE

T-Mobile is officially the first Tier 1 US operator to go live with voice over LTE, having launched the 4G voice service near its home market of Seattle.

The carrier is beating AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) by one day in announcing its service is live in Seattle and working on the LG Electronics Inc. (London: LGLD; Korea: 6657.KS) G Flex and the Samsung Corp. Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Light via a software update. AT&T plans to launch VoLTE in parts of four states tomorrow, and Verizon Wireless has said it will go live with its 4G voice service with HD voice and video calling sometime in the coming months. (See Verizon's Journey to VoLTE, in Videos and AT&T Confirms VoLTE Launch in 4 States.)

T-Mobile US Inc. -owned MetroPCS was actually the first to launch VoLTE in the US back in 2012, so the carrier might have had a leg up. It will offer VoLTE with HD voice, which it has been providing for 3G calls since January 2013. In a blog post on the launch, T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray wrote the carrier has "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." (See MetroPCS Changes Course on 4G Voice.)

Ray also wrote that the carrier will be the first in the US to use enhanced single-radio voice call continuity (eSRVCC) to ensure calls aren't dropped when its customers move from an LTE pocket to an HSPA+ or 2G area. He called VoLTE a step toward offering a host of rich communications services and additional innovations around WiFi calling in the coming months, suggesting T-Mobile's launch will just include HD voice initially.

After months -- even years -- of delays, VoLTE is finally coming to the US. Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) is the only operator that has yet to give a solid timeline for deploying its version of the 4G voice technology. (See VoLTE: So Close You Can Hear It and Sprint Taps BroadSoft for VoLTE Transition.)

— Sarah Reedy, Senior Editor, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Sarah Thomas

Director, Women in Comms

Sarah Thomas's love affair with communications began in 2003 when she bought her first cellphone, a pink RAZR, which she duly "bedazzled" with the help of superglue and her dad.

She joined the editorial staff at Light Reading in 2010 and has been covering mobile technologies ever since. Sarah got her start covering telecom in 2007 at Telephony, later Connected Planet, may it rest in peace. Her non-telecom work experience includes a brief foray into public relations at Fleishman-Hillard (her cussin' upset the clients) and a hodge-podge of internships, including spells at Ingram's (Kansas City's business magazine), American Spa magazine (where she was Chief Hot-Tub Correspondent), and the tweens' quiz bible, QuizFest, in NYC.

As Editorial Operations Director, a role she took on in January 2015, Sarah is responsible for the day-to-day management of the non-news content elements on Light Reading.

Sarah received her Bachelor's in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She lives in Chicago with her 3DTV, her iPad and a drawer full of smartphone cords.

Away from the world of telecom journalism, Sarah likes to dabble in monster truck racing, becoming part of Team Bigfoot in 2009.

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