While most of the attention for 5G focuses on higher mobile broadband speeds and the applications it enables, there’s also much intentionality taking place on voice applications. 5G Voice-Over-New-Radio (VoNR) will be a compelling new capability offered through emerging 5G networks, according to a new 5G Americas report.
The Future of Voice in Mobile Wireless Communications discusses the evolution of the radio access network and for voice services in the cloud.
4G packet-switched Voice-Over-LTE (VoLTE) networks have provided customers with several new benefits, including Enhanced Voice Services (EVS) codec-based HD voice, video calling, and Rich Communication Services (RCS).
With the onset of 5G networks, customers could see improved call quality while telecom companies will benefit from reduced costs and faster technology migration through VoNR, according to 5G Americas.
However, there are challenges to adopting VoNR, the white paper said, predicting that 5G networks will use an Evolved Packet System Fallback (EPSFB) as a temporary solution as they transition from non-standalone to standalone networks.
With non-standalone 5G networks, voice calling, and other IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) services use the LTE network without impacting the control plane signaling. Eventually, non-standalone and standalone will co-exist on an operator’s networks, meaning additional care will be needed to ensure E911 and other services are running properly.
“The foundations for commercial grade VoNR have been laid out in 3GPP Release 15 and 16, so as more network operators launch 5G standalone networks, it’s reasonable to believe some commercial VoNR service could be available in late 2021 or early 2022,” said Chris Pearson, 5G Americas president, in a prepared statement.