The popularity of Over-the-top (OTT) applications has resulted in the erosion of service providers' voice and data revenues in recent years, forcing Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to innovate and transform their networks to offer newer services such as rich communication services. In 2013, some of the world's more developed telecoms markets - such as the US and Japan - saw their data revenues surpassing voice services and a large chunk of voice minutes being taken over by the OTT services. It is hence not surprising that MNOs are deploying the IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) technology to build the necessary capacity to offer rich communication services while beefing up their networks to offer alternative voice services such as VoLTE, VoWiFi and other VoMBB services, enriching their suite of High-Definition (HD) voice services.
According to Visiongain, consumer demand for media-rich applications and music and video streaming has driven operators to move up their timetables for augmenting capacity and laying a framework for future-proof networks. Visiongain expects there to be 101.7 million active VoLTE subscriptions worldwide by the end of 2015.
VisionGain stated that operators in developed markets see VoLTE as both a means to gain competitive advantage over rival service providers and a tool to bolster their brand strength. VoLTE promises operators to fully utilize their IMS infrastructure, optimise their spectrum efficiency, and add value to existing voice plans, added VisionGain.
The leading market research firm also believes that VoLTE will spark off a fresh round of competition among operators as operators outdo each other to lead in the $650 billion market.
