Successful VoLTE Launch – Coverage Assessment

One of the quite frequent activities happening in many operators nowadays is technology sunset (2G/3G), mostly due to lack of capacity in 4G where the need for spectrum is constantly growing, so spectrum re-farming from 2G/3G to 4G is often the only option left. However, this puts a big challenge on speech services which are still mostly handled by 2G/3G. This paper describes methodology used to assess the readiness of the network for securing good VoLTE service as the only speech option when 2G/3G technology sunset happens. It is based on the modeling of existing real LTE network data for VoLTE use case, giving VoLTE readiness status of each sector in the network as well as prioritization per problem severity for the sectors which are identified as problematic. It will also summarize possible resolution options for critical sectors depending on their current configuration and environment.