AT&T to enable HD Voice technology later this year

[Shawn Knight]

AT&T will bring HD Voice technology to their network later this year as part of their voice over LTE strategy according to senior VP Kris Rinne. The news comes just after T-Mobile announced their upcoming iPhone 5 would support the same technology designed to offer better sound quality when making phone calls.

The announcement was made at the VentureBeat Mobile Summit in Sausalito, California. Improved voice calling couldn’t come at a better time as AT&T’s overall call quality has been suspect for quite some time now. Speaking on the matter, Rinne said issues like dropped calls are largely in the rear view mirror, however. Interestingly enough, HD Voice technology has been in use in parts of Europe for several years

AT&T will also start working on developing what they are calling their advanced LTE network which is said to bond traffic from various frequencies and reduce interference. What’s more, Rinne said the company is looking to embrace over-the-top services like messaging services from Facebook.

HD Voice uses a combination of hardware and software to enhance the clarity of voice calls while simultaneously reducing background noise. Wireless carriers have to devote more frequency to handle the extra audio, however. It’s worth pointing out that both phones in the conversation as well as the network must support the technology. When all of these requirements are met, HD Voice technology will automatically be activated.

Verizon isn’t expected to move to HD Voice until sometime next year when they move voice calls to their LTE network.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/52116-att-to-enable-hd-voice-technology-later-this-year.html

 

[soldier1969]

Can't even get 4G LTE in my city of 300,000 people and now they want to add this?

 

[fraggleki]

I just got LTE in Evansville Indiana recently and I don't know about you guys but I hardly ever talk on the phone and when I do the voice quality is just fine for me! So why waste more bandwidth on silly things like this. Just My OPINION!

 

[Guest]

Here comes the mandatory HD Voice charge to your account

 

[veLa]

Voice sounds good enough for me whether its over 3G or even 2G. Seems like more of a marketing gimmick *CHECK IT OUT ALL NEW HD VOICE NOW PAY US EXTRA*. Besides, I think there was some research that pointed out voice over LTE uses more battery. Assuming that it does use more battery, I hope they'll have an option tucked away in a menu that lets you disable it.

 

[wiyosaya]

IMHO, this sounds like a marketing gimmick so that they can raise prices.