Next-gen tech goes live

Voice over LTE (VoLTE) has been slow to launch. Customers expect a high definition experience from next-gen voice, but high spectrum LTE signals have a hard time penetrating buildings, and managing the handoff back to 3G when a customer roams outside of LTE service is tricky. A few mobile network operators have cracked the code; however, and on December 5, the first VoLTE service went live in Hong Kong with support from ZTE. The service will be fully deployed by mid-2014, says a representative for CSL, the Hong Kong network which is offering VoLTE.

Another technology that has been cited for years as a use case for policy control and real-time service management, but hasn't seen the light of day, is the on-demand turbo boost button; hit a button on your phone and your Netflix movie goes from pixel party to crystal clear. Say hello to my little friend: Indonesian mobile operator XL Axiata has demonstrated a Turbo Button app with support from Huawei.

Dish teams with Sprint on fixed wireless

How do you serve millions of customers in rural and hard-to-reach areas with broadband service without sending millions of dollars on costly network infrastructure? Now that high-bandwidth 4G LTE is available, one path is to deploy fixed wireless. Drop a high-gain LTE antennae on a customer location and voila: high-speed internet to the home.

This is what Sprint and Dish Network are planning to trial in Corpus Christi, Texas in 2014. By leveraging Sprint’s 2.5 GHz 4G LTE spectrum and specialized routers and antennas, the two companies hope to build a case for fixed wireless to the home.

 “With millions underserved by inadequate broadband, the potential to bring a high-speed fixed wireless solution is very compelling to both Dish and Sprint,” said Tom Cullen, Dish’s executive VP of corporate development, in a press release. “We both bring distinct skills, not the least of which for Dish is a workforce of professional technicians who visit thousands of homes every day performing professional installations for both video and broadband.”