Here is what ABI Research says about voice-over-LTE: Mobile operators are increasingly coming under pressure to improve mobile telecom service profit margins as well as bring in new services to counter the competition from Over the Top (OTT) services such as Skype, Viber, Whatsapp, and FaceTime. Mobile operators have had limited options with 3G but 4G LTE should give the mobile operators some new tools.
In 2Q 2012, minutes of use showed the greatest declines compared to 2011 in Asia-Pacific (-7.36%), Africa (-6.3%), Western Europe (-2.32%), and North America (-2.12%). “The only regions with any significant positive growth were the Middle East (8.5%) and Latin America (5.87%),” said Marina Lu, research associate at ABI Research. LTE does not just transform the delivery of broadband data, it also can enrich voice services. SK Telecom, Korea’s largest operator, launched out the world’s first VoLTE services on 8 August, 2012. More recently, LG U+ in South Korea and MetroPCS Communications in the US have also introduced Voice over LTE.
The “Mobile Data Traffic & Usage” market data tracks mobile data, voice, and messaging usage on a quarterly basis as well as provides country and regional level forecasts. These findings are part of ABI Research’s Mobile Traffic Research Service which includes Research Reports, Market Data, Insights, and Competitive Assessments.
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