Vodafone chases Telstra with voice-over-LTE

Vodafone has followed Telstra's lead in bringing a voice-over-LTE service to Australia, flagging a start "before Christmas".

The devices supported at launch will be the Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+ and Note 5, although existing Vodafone customers with suitable handsets will be able to receive the VoLTE capability over-the-air.

"We expect the number of customers with VoLTE-capable devices to increase rapidly over the next few years as more smartphone manufacturers incorporate the feature into new models," said Vodafone chief technology officer Benoit Hanssen.

VoLTE means that a 4G connection persists during phone calls rather than revert back to the 3G system, meaning data-rich applications like video calling will become more practical.

Telstra became the first Australian telco to offer VoLTE last month.

"VoLTE not only allows users to stay on 4G during a voice call, they can also multi-task by continuing to use 4G data services such as web browsing while making or receiving a call," said Hanssen.

"For customers with capable devices, VoLTE will mean an enhanced call experience including shorter call set up times as well as longer battery life on some smartphones."

Hanssen said that the debut of VoLTE was symbolic of "a generational change for its network".

"It's a really exciting change for the network, as this is the first step to moving all voice traffic over to 4G," he said. "VoLTE means enhanced spectral efficiency with 2.3 times more users per MHz. It will also support the re-farming of our spectrum from 3G to 4G so that we can continue to provide great data speeds as traffic grows."

Similar to Telstra, the Vodafone CTO predicted his company would also bring in voice-over-wi-fi as a follow-up to VoLTE.

Vodafone Australia lost $184 million and 45,000 customers in the first half of this year, with the customer base also dropping from 5.3 million to 5.25 million.