Voice and short message service (SMS) still represent about 70% of all global wireless revenue. Yet Voice over Long Term Evolution (VoLTE) is expected to see substantial growth through 2016. According to a new report from Heavy Reading Insider, however, VoLTE’s success depends on operators testing the new service at all layers to ensure quality of service (QoS).
“VoLTE Test & Measurement: Who's Doing What” discusses the market for testing VoLTE solutions, analyzing key drivers and challenges. A 300% growth rate is expected for VoLTE services with one of the biggest drivers being voice traffic. As most users choose over-the-top (OTT) VoIP services (such as Skype) instead of regular circuit-switched (CS) voice, they see a drop in quality. VoLTE has the potential to provide higher-end voice quality, thereby offering operators more expansive service.
With the increased capacity requirement on the management layer plus the addition of applications, the optimization of VoLTE is a two-dimensional challenge. Each element of the network--from the user equipment to the RAN, EPC, and IMS cores--needs to be optimized to deliver a call-quality equivalent to or better than 2.5G/3G cellular calls. VoLTE has become a medium-term goal for operators, as many are still continuing to roll out IP-multimedia-subsystem (IMS) solutions. The testing of multiple technologies is especially crucial as core networks converge and 2G networks are replaced
The report looks at the landscape of the market over the next 18 to 24 months. In doing so, it provides competitive analysis of solutions and trends. Leading vendors include Agilent, Anritsu, Axiros, EXFO, JDSU, QualiSystems, Spirent, and Syniverse, among others. “VoLTE Test & Measurement: Who’s Doing What” is available as part of an annual single-user subscription (six issues) to Heavy Reading Mobile Networks Insider for $1595. Individual reports are available for $900 (single-user license).