Although IMS has traditionally been a data-driven domain, volte will drive the migration of mobile voice services to fully IP-based networks’ says The New Study on ASDReports

Wednesday 7 January 2015, Amsterdam

The IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) has emerged as the future of mobile networks. Driven by consumer demand for media-rich applications and music and video streaming, operators have needed to move up their timetables for augmenting capacity and laying a framework for future-proof data networks.

One of the side-effects of this new mobile paradigm has been the gradual erosion of traditional voice revenues, which have been the bread and butter of the telecoms industry for its century-long existence. In 2013, some of the world’s more developed telecoms markets – such as the US and Japan – data revenues have surpassed voice services, which have also been hindered by low-cost, third party VoIP applications.

In a number of developed European markets, voice revenue has fallen to nearly half of the levels achieved five years ago.

The voice over LTE market is a natural market reaction to diminishing returns on voice services. Based on an IMS framework, this set of protocols allows voice calls to be delivered as data flows over an LTE network, effectively eliminating traditional, public circuit-switched architecture from the mobile telephony equation.

The report expects there to be 101.7 million active VoLTE subscriptions worldwide by the end of 2015.

Operators in developed markets see VoLTE as both a means to gain competitive advantage over rival service providers and a tool to bolster their brand strength. VoLTE promises operators will be able to fully utilise their IMS infrastructure, optimise their spectrum efficiency, and add value to existing voice plans. Unsurprisingly, the solution is viewed as a catchall plan for halting the decline in voice ARPU.

Coupled with broader LTE rollouts, VoLTE is set to become the next major services race amongst operators. Not only are they locked in competition with one another, but also with third party VoIP providers also determined to cling to voice revenue. As LTE coverage ascends to ubiquity, voice services will rapidly become a battleground over a $650 billion global market.

The Voice over LTE (VoLTE) Market 2015-2020: MNOs Responding to the VoIP Threat through IMS, EPC, HD Voice, RCS, & ARPU Growth analyses the prospects for this market globally, regionally, and in 5 leading national market with VoLTE subscriber forecasts and VoLTE revenues forecasts . Our forecasts measure and assess drivers and barriers to entry for VoLTE, RCS, and delivers an outlook for the future of mobile voice revenue. The products and strategies of 9 leading companies in the VoLTE market are described in detail. 88 unique charts, figures, and tables quantify and qualify this market, with complete regional segmentation.

The Voice over LTE (VoLTE) Market 2015-2020: MNOs Responding to the VoIP Threat through IMS, EPC, HD Voice, RCS, & ARPU Growth report will be of value to current and future investors in the IT, enterprise communications networks, wireless infrastructure, network backbone, and mobile device industries, as well as companies and research centres who wish to broaden their knowledge on this subject.