Why VoLTE is Critical to 5G Success

The transition to 5G brings the potential for exciting innovation. Yet as 5G is beginning to take hold, for some operators it signals the need for a big change in a standard feature: voice.

To enable voice calls on 5G smartphones, networks that have been relying on 2G and 3G for voice will need to move to VoLTE. In addition, there’s an increasing need to free up valuable spectrum. It’s coming fast, so operators should harness the potential of 5G for voice quickly to ensure they don’t get left behind.

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Embracing 5G Innovation for Voice Services

With 5G network deployments rolling out in many markets around the world, and the adoption rate being four times that of its 4G LTE predecessor, 5G promises to quickly deliver a far richer set of features and new capabilities. These 5G networks will bring automation and agility to provide voice services that are strategic for operators.

It’s time. IMS is fundamental for delivering 4G, VoLTE, and 5G voice services. Operators that have left voice on 2G or 3G networks now need to move forward. A cloud-native IMS solution allows them to leapfrog directly to a more flexible and agile solution.

Benefits of Implementing a Cloud-Native IMS Platform

Transforming and modernizing operations will be necessary to realize the true benefits of a cloud-native IMS platform. Three key benefits come into play:

Productivity gains – Completing operational tasks in a traditional network can be costly. Operators are increasingly rolling out capacity, doing patch upgrades rolling, and wanting to offer new revenue generating services, which can prove to be a very expensive proposition.
Increased innovation – As operators are getting more operationally efficient, new innovative services can be delivered in less time, at lower costs, with less risk. The ability to launch new services with a faster speed to market allows operators to continually improve the customer experience and help build the network of the future.
Dynamically allocate resources – This benefit isn’t just about hardware savings; it’s about the ability to reallocate resources depending on where the service demand is, allowing operators to more efficiently use their capital investment.

Operators That Have Not Yet Migrated from 2G/3G Voice Will Face a Challenging Future

Cloud-native IMS platforms allow operators to reduce costs and drive network efficiencies as 2G and 3G networks are retired, and as spectrum is re-farmed, in favor of 5G.¹

For example, Turkcell is using Mavenir’s cloud-native, NFV-based IMS solution to fully support LTE use cases and evolve into a fully web-scale platform that can meet the requirements enabling them to continue to transform their LTE and 5G voice network into 100% virtual infrastructures.

Without investing in a cloud-native IMS platform that moves all of the workload into a containerized environment, operators will be hard pressed to deliver VoLTE, support customer expectations, generate new revenues, or reduce costs