XConnect
Active Member
High Definition voice is a service which will eventually dominate the voice market - possibly only in a matter of years. ABR Research claims 900m current users and predicts 485m mobile users by 2015 (http://www.abiresearch.com/press/3411-487+Million+Users+to+Enjoy+HD-Quality+Mobile+Voice+in+2015)
HD Voice is available for both fixed and mobile operators. It will start in the premium and early adopter market and eventually work through as have other technologies.
France Telecom pioneered this in 2006 and it must have been regarded as highly succesful for them to roll out to six of their mobile operations (Orange). Other major fixed operators have decided to build on the success as well. We believe it is only a matter of time before local operators join our global initiative and build the number of networks passing high definition traffic across networks and globally.
Orange's rollout in Europe is worth noting: http://www.orange.com/en_EN/press/press_releases/cp100214en.jsp
It must be only a matter of time before Vodafone have to counter-launch, to retain high-end customers and benefit from the longer than average calls that HD users are known to make.
Try out the voice quality yourself: http://www.voiceage.com/amrwb.php
The HD codec for mobile, AMR-WB (adaptive, multi-rate wide band) starts at only 12.65kbps, which is close to the 12.2kbps where the current AMR codecs end, and should not make a dent on the HSPA networks it is designed for - offering a nominal 14.4 mbps, some globals moving to 21mbps and 42mbps.
In summary, we will definitely see growth in this technology, just as we saw moves in TV's from monochrome to colour to HD, and a move in music from vinyl, to tape decks, to CD's. Although it may be slow int the SA mobile arena, it is growing in Europe and the US mobile markets. The fixed markets have already shown growth on both sides of the Atlantic, and there is growing fixed usage in South Africa. As broadband inevitably gets faster and cheaper, so will people inevitably go for a better experience, starting with the early adopters and high end users, and moving into the mass market as the ecosystem develops.