T-Mobile announced last month that they had expanded their VoLTE technology into 15 markets, while AT&T and Verizon were working on rolling out their networks later this year. However, Sprint is opting out of using VoLTE technology. Sprint believes their CDMA network and Voice HD have improved sound quality and are more spectrally efficient. “VoLTE is not as near term of an issue for us,” explained Ron Marquardt, VP of technology at Sprint. “As part of Network Vision, we are also upgrading our 3G network and 1x-Advanced provides us more efficient use of our spectrum. Combined with HD Voice, we are seeing great call quality and spectrum efficiency.” Marquardt also explained that another advantage to keeping voice traffic on an already established technology was that Sprint would not have to deal with challenges in setting up VoLTE services to be compliant with emergency services or mission critical services. He added that Sprint’s measured approach to VoLTE did not mean that the carrier was not interested in the technology, only that it did not feel any need to rush into the market. (Source: RCR Wireless)
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