Carrier-Grade Voice over LTE: Advantages and Challenges

Data usage is surging in wireless networks and operators are quickly moving from second generation/third generation (2G/3G) networks towards 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) which is expected to provide significant data capacity and latency improvements. In this paper, we examine the benefits of a complete transition from mixed 2G/3G/LTE networks to an all- LTE network with the ability to provide unified voice and data services. These benefits are explored from both a network operator and equipment vendor point of view. Carrier-grade voice over LTE is expected to be an important requirement for this transition and some initial deployment configurations may present challenges in terms of coverage and capacity; in this paper we explore these challenges and ways to overcome them.