Wifi and VOLTE calling on iPhone coming to EE first

exterraexterra Posts: 159
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Fresh from the Apple iPhone announcement - Apple are working with 2 carriers to bring Wifi Calling with seamless handoff to Volte on 4G - T-Mob in the US and EE in the UK.

Bit of a coup for EE!
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Comments

  • wavejockglwwavejockglw Posts: 10,596
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    Do I really care what technology carries a voice call? (GSM, UMTS, VoLTE?)

    GSM has the largest coverage and will have for years to come and that is featured on every handset on the market!

    Progress of sorts I guess but just how many will be rushing to EE to take advantage of this?
  • The Lord LucanThe Lord Lucan Posts: 5,054
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    Wave.. rather simplifying it. It's likely the biggest shake up since analogue to digital.
  • wavejockglwwavejockglw Posts: 10,596
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    Wave.. rather simplifying it. It's likely the biggest shake up since analogue to digital.

    Not really for customers...... for the networks perhaps but a voice call to the average punter is just that and most don't care what it is as long as the call is clear. The fact is that nobody is going to be making a purchase just to get VoLTE as it delivers nothing that any common feature phone does already.
  • mupet0000mupet0000 Posts: 629
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    Do I really care what technology carries a voice call? (GSM, UMTS, VoLTE?)

    GSM has the largest coverage and will have for years to come and that is featured on every handset on the market!

    Progress of sorts I guess but just how many will be rushing to EE to take advantage of this?

    I don't see people rushing to EE for this, but then again it's technology advancing, and all networks need to keep up.

    VoLTE will let you use LTE data while on a phone call instead of dropping down to slower 3G, especially handy while tethering!

    And that WiFi calling is awesome, being able to transition from wifi to your mobile network and stay on the call, it's better than Three's solution which would cause your call to drop if you leave wifi, even if you gain a network signal.
    Not really for customers...... for the networks perhaps but a voice call to the average punter is just that and most don't care what it is as long as the call is clear. The fact is that nobody is going to be making a purchase just to get VoLTE as it delivers nothing that any common feature phone does already.

    Nobody is going to make a purchase because of VoLTE. Well forget VoLTE then. The average consumer probably doesn't even need 4G for their day to day, let's just ditch the whole thing, 3G is fine as it is.

    With that kind of mentality, things would never advance.
  • wavejockglwwavejockglw Posts: 10,596
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    Does the new iPhone allow users to access 4G LTE and Wi-Fi at the same time like the S5?
  • lee18xxlee18xx Posts: 2,971
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    Voice over LTE won't really affect most of the networks in the UK (except EE) as LTE is still literally none existent :)
  • jabbamk1jabbamk1 Posts: 8,942
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    lee18xx wrote: »
    Voice over LTE won't really affect most of the networks in the UK (except EE) as LTE is still literally none existent :)

    Three and EE will have it before Vodafone and O2.
  • The Lord LucanThe Lord Lucan Posts: 5,054
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    So basically the UK's two networks with the most amount of 4G activated customers... So yeah hardly affects anyone :)
  • ConnorL9382ConnorL9382 Posts: 112
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    Seems only the iPhone 6 and 6 plus support VoLTE.

    A lot of people with iPhone 5, 5s and 5c's will be missed out :/

    The UK compare page doesn't mention anything about VoLTE yet they said about EE, whether as the US/Global version does.

    UK: http://imgur.com/XQTYfNZ
    USA: http://imgur.com/cnofCJy
  • jonmorrisjonmorris Posts: 21,675
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    Is there a site that shows which Android devices are ready for VoLTE? Or indeed phones on all platforms?

    VoLTE is a very important, and long overdue, part of the LTE development that will finally make it possible to 'go the extra mile' with 4G roll out. However, if a lot of handsets can't use it, then that presents a problem in the short term.
  • d123d123 Posts: 8,594
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    Wave.. rather simplifying it. It's likely the biggest shake up since analogue to digital.

    It's not on O2, therefore it has no relevance to wavejock, he therefore thinks it's irrelevant to the entire country.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 297
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    Or get the phone cheaper on Three and get AYCE data and use the free inTouch app for WiFI calling and SMS
  • tycho-magtycho-mag Posts: 8,650
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    A lot of people with iPhone 5, 5s and 5c's will be missed out :/

    I wondered if the qualcomm baseband in the 5 and 5s handsets would need to be updated, and if that is remotely risky to bricking the phone then Apple wouldn't do it in the field.
  • wrexham103.4wrexham103.4 Posts: 3,334
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    Seems only the iPhone 6 and 6 plus support VoLTE.

    A lot of people with iPhone 5, 5s and 5c's will be missed out :/


    The UK compare page doesn't mention anything about VoLTE yet they said about EE, whether as the US/Global version does.

    UK: http://imgur.com/XQTYfNZ
    USA: http://imgur.com/cnofCJy

    at least we will get wifi calling :)
  • simon69csimon69c Posts: 1,423
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    dangetti wrote: »
    Or get the phone cheaper on Three and get AYCE data and use the free inTouch app for WiFI calling and SMS

    Native support for wifi calling is a better solution though as you won't end up with two separate SMS histories and the seamless handoff from wifi to cellular is something standalone apps can't do either.

    As for VoLTE it should help indoor voice coverage for the likes of Three as they have access to lower frequencies for LTE which should offer improved building penetration.
  • arunan22arunan22 Posts: 1,450
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    Could be wrong but IIRC they only mentioned Wifi calling coming to EE and not VoLTE. No UK network was mentioned for VoLTE - but I do believe EE are working on it.
  • jonmorrisjonmorris Posts: 21,675
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    I think EE, Vodafone and Three are all trialling VoLTE. I assume O2 is too.

    EE has already said it's working on it, but presumably without a date Apple wouldn't say anything. Just as has happened with previous releases where there was a delay before a device was confirmed as working on a particular network.

    It may well be early 2015 anyway, but it's certainly good to have a phone that's ready and then be told later on that you'll get this new service. EE and Three need to start rolling out their 800MHz service anyway, so there's no major harm in the delay.
  • The Lord LucanThe Lord Lucan Posts: 5,054
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    Sooner than we think. iPhone 6 also does CA.
  • jonmorrisjonmorris Posts: 21,675
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    It's only Cat 4 LTE though isn't it? Always quite tricky to get the details.
  • enapaceenapace Posts: 4,303
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    Yeah it's only Cat 4.
  • tycho-magtycho-mag Posts: 8,650
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    jonmorris wrote: »
    It's only Cat 4 LTE though isn't it? Always quite tricky to get the details.

    Anandtech has the technical detail as usual.
    Apple is also finally introducing MDM9x25 with carrier aggregation and VoLTE. This means that there's a dual transceiver solution in the iPhone 6 devices. On the same line, Apple is finally adding 802.11ac to its smartphones and has worked on enabling seamless WiFi calling that goes from WiFi to cellular networks.

    I read last week that Apple would use the 9x25 as there was unreliable yields of the very new Cat 6 chip from Qualcomm. The 9x25 is available in volume and supports CA but only a top speed of 150Mbps thus Cat 4.

    I guess when you're Apple you have to plan to sell a metric ton :-)
  • tycho-magtycho-mag Posts: 8,650
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    jonmorris wrote: »
    It's only Cat 4 LTE though isn't it? Always quite tricky to get the details.

    More on the MDM9x25:
    http://www.anandtech.com/show/6541/the-state-of-qualcomms-modems-wtr1605-and-mdm9x25/3
  • japauljapaul Posts: 1,727
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    So of the UK networks playing with CA at the moment, it wouldn't be of any use as they can already do Cat 4 speeds without CA? Might be more useful for Three at some point in the future?
  • enapaceenapace Posts: 4,303
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    japaul wrote: »
    So of the UK networks playing with CA at the moment, it wouldn't be of any use as they can already do Cat 4 speeds without CA? Might be more useful for Three at some point in the future?

    Probably not as Apple probably haven't enabled the firmware to do that. Plus I imagine by the time Three looks at CA the 2300MHz LTE auctions will be upon us. Interesting enough the models we are getting of the iPhone 6 in UK will support that frequency.
  • japauljapaul Posts: 1,727
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    enapace wrote: »
    Probably not as Apple probably haven't enabled the firmware to do that. Plus I imagine by the time Three looks at CA the 2300MHz LTE auctions will be upon us. Interesting enough the models we are getting of the iPhone 6 in UK will support that frequency.

    I was thinking more along the lines of the Cat 4 150Mb/s limit. EE/Vod are playing with CA but that takes them beyond 150Mb/s since they can already do Cat 4 without CA. So having CA that only goes up to Cat 4 wouldn't be much use for EE/Vod.

    You are right about the bands. Just had a look and it does support a load of LTE bands. Also has TDD 2600 (band 38) which some UK networks have.
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