It looks like EE is looking to improve its offerings significantly by the end of this year. The mobile carrier is running live trials for Wi-Fi calling and Voice over LTE services.
Better voice service, especially in rural areas, has always been an area where carriers are traditionally behind the users’ actual needs. But EE is trying to fix that by extending coverage and deploying newer technologies.
First up is Wi-fi calling, which is in no way a new innovation but large scale deployment has never been done well. Wi-fi calling would allow users to rely on their wireless network instead of their carrier’s cell towers. This means clients would be able to make crisp and clear calls even when they have no signal. It also means higher quality calls, lower drop rates and increased voice bandwidth across the network, if everything goes according to plan. CTO of EE, Fotis Karonis, explained further:
Our WiFi calling capability will let customers make calls where they have access to WiFi but not to the mobile network. The customer experience is seamless because it’s the same as making a network call and uses the normal call interface of the handset.
Secondly EE is looking to deploy VoLTE – voice over LTE – using the 800 Mhz spectrum. Currently 4G voice calls aren’t great and usually carriers rely on older 2G or 3G technology for voice, while keeping the 4G bandwidth for mobile data transfers. But EE, wants to fix this problem and deploy new technologies next year that would greatly increase coverage for its users.
Pilot programs with these new technologies are set to begin later in the year, with larger deployment scheduled for next year.
Source: EE Newsroom
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