Tata launches international HD voice interconnect

Indian operator Tata Communications has launched a service offering international HD voice call termination to mobile operators that have launched HD voice in their domestic markets. Figures from the Global Mobile Suppliers Association show that HD voice had been launched by 61 operators in 45 countries by the end of January this year.

Tata said that its the service enables mobile operators to route international HD calls via end-to-end IP, without transcoding. Tata has delivered IP voice interconnect to 210 mobile operators around the world, 26 of which are HD-ready, Tata said, and four of which are already in the deployment phase of Tata’s new solution.

Tata claims leadership in the international wholesale voice market, carrying more than one billion voice minutes each week. It has an extensive network of submarine and terrestrial cables and a Tier-1 IP backbone that hits more than 200 countries, the firm said.

“Our focus on improving voice quality through innovations such as HD voice has led to 28 per cent year-on-year volume growth from key retail service providers,” said Michel Guyot, president, Global Voice Solutions for Tata. “We will leverage our community of IP-connected MNOs to quickly enable HD voice calls between the widest possible range of destinations, maximising the benefits of premium call quality for our partners and their end users.”

While HD voice is not dependent on LTE, it is expected that deployments will ramp up as VoLTE comes on line. In a recent survey by Telecoms.com Intelligence, 34.9 per cent of operators said that they plan to launch HD voice at the same time as they deploy VoLTE.

72.7 per cent of respondents felt that HD voice should be packaged with VoLTE and RCS as a single, enhanced communications experience.

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