Orange UK to launch HD Voice

UK mobile operator Orange has revealed plans to launch High Definition Voice on its mobile network in 2010.

HD Voice promises superior sound quality by capturing a greater range of the caller’s voice, the hitch however, is that a new handset will be required.

Orange said it is already working with leading handset manufacturers on the development of devices to be rolled out later this year.

The operator said the launch of HD Voice in the UK follows two years of investment in the operator’s mobile network, which has resulted in 3G coverage to more than 93 per cent of the UK’s population.

HD Voice uses the WB-AMR (Wideband Adaptive Multi-Rate) speech codec, which benefits from a wider speech bandwidth of 50–7000Hz compared to the current narrowband speech codec of 300–3400Hz. The WB-AMR codec also delivers significantly enhanced sound quality whilst utilising the same network resources, Orange said, “making it sound as if callers are actually in the same room.”