GSA confirms new milestone for mobile HD voice with 100th network launch
March 25, 2014: The GSA (Global mobile Suppliers Association) today confirmed that HD voice service is now commercially launched by 100 mobile operators in 71 countries. Eight operators activated HD voice service so far in 2014, with mobile users being introduced for the first time to HD voice calling this month in Morocco, Oman and Sweden. The number of mobile operators offering HD voice is over 31% higher than a year ago.
Full details are included in the Mobile HD voice: Global Update report published by GSA today.
Beginning with the first service launch in 2009, HD voice service is now available in Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritius, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, ReÌunion, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, Uganda, UK, Ukraine, and the USA.
22 countries have at least two mobile HD voice operators. Interconnection between competing networks for end-to-end HD voice calling, as well as international roaming for HD calls, are priorities for 2014.
Mobile HD voice uses Adaptive Multi Rate Wideband (W-AMR) technology, enabling high-quality voice calls in supporting mobile networks and an improved user experience for calls between mobile phones supporting the feature.
The breakdown of network types that now offer commercial HD voice service is as follows:
89 3G/HSPA-only operators
6 GSM and HSPA operators
2 GSM-only operators
3 LTE operators (using VoLTE)
Total = 100 mobile HD voice operators
In a recent related report, GSA confirmed that 329 HD voice phones, more than twice the number of a year ago and including operator and frequency variants, have been announced by 19 manufacturers. Most operate on 3G/HSPA networks, with some working on GSM networks. Several VoLTE devices that also incorporate W-AMR functionality for HD voice are also included.
Alan Hadden, President of GSA, said: Approaching 1 in 5 HSPA operators now offer HD voice service. The choice of HD phones more than doubled over the past 12 months. Market momentum is positive for mobile HD voice, and growing.
Log in to the GSA website to download the Mobile HD Voice: Global Update report (March 25) via http://www.gsacom.com
The status of the supporting user devices ecosystem is contained in t he HD voice (W-AMR) mobile phones and suppliers report (March 21, 2014) also via http://www.gsacom.com
Not yet a registered GSA website user? It only takes a minute to sign up at http://www.gsacom.com/php/register_form
About GSA
GSA (Global mobile Suppliers Association) represents GSM/EDGE, WCDMA-HSPA and LTE suppliers, providing reports, facts, analysis and information explaining market developments and trends. Through its website www.gsacom.com GSA supports a global community which includes over 62,000 registered site users and over 19,000 contributors and followers on our social media platforms of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. More than 250,000 reports, information papers and other materials are downloaded from the GSA website annually.
Website: www.gsacom.com
Mobile HD Voice Zone: www.gsacom.com/hdvoice
HD Voice (W-AMR) LinkedIN Group: www.linkedin.com/groups?=&gid=3032759
GSA LinkedIN Group: www.linkedin.com/groups? gid=2313721
Twitter: www.twitter.com/gsacom
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Global-mobile-Suppliers-Association-GSA/123462771012551
