By Doug Mohney, on January 25th, 2012
HD Voice News Editor-in-Chief Doug Mohney writes about Qualcomm saying HD voice will appear on CDMA networks this year on different carriers around the world, with at least one carrier announcing service by the end of 2012.
The full piece can be found at–
http://www.tmcnet.com/channels/hd-voice/articles/258361-qualcomm-hd-voice-arriving-cdma-this-year.htm
Qualcomm says EVRC-NW and 1X Advanced is being rolled into all chips moving forward and already being “seeded”/shipping into high-end phones being shipped by carriers today. The actual functionality may be dormant until the carrier decides enough critical mass has built up to flip the switch for HD voice service.
By Doug Mohney, on January 25th, 2012
Optimum Lightpath has rolled out a Conference Bundle, a full line of conference services including “enterprise-class” audio and web conferencing. The service provides support for HD voice if the customer has it.
Features of the conference bundle include support for up to 300 audio only or 125 web and audio participants; a “Connect Me” feature to automatically call participants logging into a meeting via the web; a personal digital library for storing and quickly sharing frequently used files; and one-click conference recording.
By Doug Mohney, on January 25th, 2012
From the Czech Republic, Acrobits has released the latest versions of its iPhone client. Both versions support G.722 in addition to a “SmoothFlow” video technology for video calling. An Android client is expected to launch in the the second quarter of this year.
Consumers will get SIP Phone while business users can buy Groundwire. The SIP Phone app is pre-configured for “hundreds” of VoIP carriers around the world while Groundwire is said to work with both “cloud and open source” IP PBX platforms such as Cisco, Avaya, and Asterisk.
More on Acrobits can be found at www.acrobits.cz
By Doug Mohney, on January 25th, 2012
Thanks to MobileSyrup (www.mobilesyrup.com) for breaking the news, eh?
Bell (Canada) and Virgin Mobile have both launched HD voice this week in the Great White North, joining WIND. Both launches are on HSPA+ networks.
On Bell’s website, there’s a Q&A page buried in the support section. Currently, both callers must be within Bell 4G HSPA+ coverage; HD voice is not yet available in Saskatchewan or in “extended” coverage areas.
Phones “compatible” are the HTC Sensation, HTC Incredible S, Nokia C6-00 and Nokia C6-01, with more “expected” in 2012.
The FAQ notes that HD voice is *not* available on voicemail and conference calls.
The guys at MobileSyrup note it is nearly a year to the date WIND Mobile first brought out HD voice to Canadian customers. Virgin Mobile is listing the HTC Sensation and HTC Incredible S as compatible phones.
As is typical, customers get HD voice quality free of charge, both callers have to be on the same network, and both callers have to have HD voice compatible (i.e. using AMR-WB) phones in order to make an HD voice call.
By Doug Mohney, on January 23rd, 2012
Telstra is bragging it has introduced Australia’s first 4G smartphone. The HTC Velocity is an LTE smartphone with HD voice support onboard.
The Velocity currently runs Android 2.3, has a 4.5 inch touch screen, and a dual-core 1.5 GHz processor. It also has an 8 MP camera, and boasts of built-in HD voice support for “crisper, clearer” calls when talking to other HD voice compatible handsets on Telstra’s mobile network.
LTE speeds in Telstra coverage range from 2 Mbps to 40 Mbps download speeds with tpical upload speeds of 1 Mbps to 10 Mbps. In addition, the phone also includes 3G dual-channel HSPA+ connectivity, so customers outside of 4G coverage areas will get downloads speeds from 1.1 Mbps to 20 Mbps in 3G territory.
By Doug Mohney, on January 20th, 2012
Like everyone else on the planet, Polycom (www.polycom.com) has announced it is adding a service/cloud model rather than simply sticking to a hardware/software sales strategy. In this case, Polycom will be providing RealPresence Cloud, a wholesale, carry-ready offering to enable service providers to bring Video-as-a-service (VaaS) offerings quickly to market.
RealPresence Cloud solutions are designed to deliver infrastructure, endpoints, and services to service providers to provide subscription-based solutions for video collaboration. The idea is to enable service providers to provide a quick way to roll out Polycom-based video collaboration solutions among SMBs and enterprise who want either a hybrid solution of both premises-based video collaboration solutions and video on demand or a pure VaaS solution
The rollout announcement came this week and is built around the Polycom RealPresence Network – formerly the Halo/HVEN network bought from HP in 2011 – to allow service providers to deliver video from the cloud.
RealPresence Cloud solutions encompass a fully managed multipoint video service that support different connectivity options between standards-based room, mobile, PC and web-based endpoints, plus Microsoft Linc 2010, IBM Sametime, and endpoints supporting the TIP protocol.
Currently, Polycom has RealPresence VaaS clouds running with China Unicom and Airtel; China Unicom’s cloud delivers VaaS to more than 10,000 organizations and interconnects around 100,000 endpoints “and growing” from 10 different vendors.
One benefit of being plugged into a RealPresence VaaS service is the enablement of seamless SIP interconnectivity, so you can just as easily run HD voice as you can H.323 video from point-to-point anywhere in the cloud.
By Doug Mohney, on January 20th, 2012
XConnect (www.xconnect.com) has set up a partnership with Germany’s DE-CIX to establish the first NGN/VoIP federation in the country. Service providers will now be able to use the federation to directly exchange IP voice and multimedia traffic.
As a part of the partnership, a “secure and scalable” federation hub and central carrier ENUM-based routing and numbers management platform will be established to enable IP-based service providers to connect end-to-end on an all-IP basis.
Interconnection into the hub is expected to reduce the technical complexity and commercial and operational costs of IP interconnection, allowing for migration from bilateral, legacy-network TDM interconnects to IP. Operators will be able to securely and multilaterally interconnect to multiple networks via a single IP connection to the hub.
The ENUM registry is expected to offer a central number-management and number-portability platform for German operators, facilitating ENUM-based number discovery and routing that will enable calls to be delivered accurately and directly across networks.
DE-CIX already provides direct and settlement-free Internet interconnection infrastructure services to more than 400 operators.
By Doug Mohney, on January 20th, 2012
Aastra (www.aastra.com) will have several of its 6700i SIP phones included in Earthlink’s Complete Voice hosted business voice service. Anyone spot the irony here?
The Aastra 67xxi series phones feature G.722 and were among the first phones deployed in quantity by 8×8, with a firmware upgrade turning 8×8 into the largest single business hosted HD voice “island” back in late 2009.
Earthlink is currently working through back-end software upgrade issues with Metaswitch in order to support HD voice on its newly introduced hosted business voice solution. The software upgrades are expected to be completed sometime this quarter.
By Doug Mohney, on January 20th, 2012
Deutsche Telekom (DT) this week has officially rolled out an Android DECT phone with native G.722 support, plus there’s an iPhone G.722 SIP client for in-home WiFi use. It’s the latest move by DT to expand its HD voice support in the consumer world.
The Speedphone 700 is an Android-based home phone with an 8.1 inch touch screen that can access Internet services such as email, RSS feeds, a personal online address book, and other apps provided through DT’s media center. DT says the 700 is initially designed for use with the Speedport W 723V DECT gateway to ensure high data transfer speed between the phone and network.
Other features of the Speedphone 700 include a micro-USB connector for a headset, Micro SD card slot with a 2 GB memory card, speakerphone, picture-based caller ID, and notification for voicemail. Available now in DT shops and online, the phone costs around 150 euros or 4.95 euros per month on a 24 month service plan.
The home talk iPhone/iThings app was published on December 14, 2011. The SIP client runs over a home wireless LAN and enables G.722 calls to and from landline numbers in the home. The client supports Bluetooth headsets and is available through a couple of different DT packages free of charge.
An Android version of the home talk client is expected to be released in the future, but no release date has been set.
By Doug Mohney, on January 20th, 2012
Verizon Wireless is pushing back its VoLTE rollout to early 2013, Light Reading says. This would be a pushback from the company’s previous declaration it would start rolling out Voice over LTE for customers in 2012.
Light Reading says Verizon has been trialing VoLTE in two markets at least since September 2011. An analyst covering the space says that a “national rollout” for VoLTE will be in early 2013, so Verizon could launch VoLTE in some markets this year and still have its previous comments covered.
Back at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in February of last year, Verizon said it would roll out VoLTE in 2012, with various reports and comments suggesting introduction would occur in the first half of 2012.
Expect to hear more details out of Verizon in Barcelona in February.
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