“The widespread support for a harmonised approach to deliver voice and SMS sessions over LTE, based on specifications already available in the 3GPP portfolio, is a great achievement and should be applauded.”
Adrian Scrase - Head of 3GPP Mobile Competence Centre


GSMA Press Release, 15 February 2010

The GSMA today announced it has adopted the work of the One Voice Initiative* to drive the global mobile industry towards a standard way of delivering voice and messaging services for Long-Term Evolution (LTE). The GSMA’s Voice over LTE (VoLTE) initiative has the backing of more than 40 organisations from across the mobile ecosystem, including many of the world’s leading mobile operators, handset manufacturers and equipment vendors, all of whom support the principle of a single, IMS-based voice solution for next-generation Mobile Broadband networks. The GSMA will also lead the development of the specifications that will enable interconnection and international roaming between LTE networks, and will complete that work by Q1 2011.


LTE is the first all-Internet Protocol (IP) network technology to be backed by the mobile industry and will be used initially to provide very fast, highly responsive mobile data services. For LTE to support voice and messaging, an IP-based solution is required that will offer the same interoperable and seamless experience that 2G and 3G wireless technologies offer today. IMS (IP multimedia subsystem) can achieve this, and supports all voice call service features such as call waiting, call hold and call barring, and is highly scalable to serve very large subscriber bases. IMS also provides mobile operators with the ability to offer services that can integrate voice calls with enhanced, rich features such as presence, instant messaging and video content, delivered in an interoperable and multi-operator environment.

end

The GSMA lists the widespread industry support for its VoLTE initiative in the Press release - at www.mobileworldlive.com


*The One Voice Initiative was a collaboration between AT&T, Orange, Telefónica, TeliaSonera, Verizon Wireless, Vodafone, Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson that used current open standards to define the minimum mandatory set of functionality for interoperable IMS-based voice and SMS over LTE. The GSMA adopted the technical profile developed by the One Voice Initiative and this work is now only referred to as the GSMA’s VoLTE initiative or VoLTE.


About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry. Spanning 219 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world's mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA is focused on innovating, incubating and creating new opportunities for its membership, all with the end goal of driving the growth of the mobile communications industry.

For more information, please visit Mobile World Live, the new online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com or the GSMA corporate website at www.gsmworld.com.

GSMA
Daniel Lowther
press@gsm.org