VoLTE is a bet.

It will change the whole infrastructure of a mobile operator from a circuit switched one into an IP based one, touching the most sensitive (and profitable) services and operations they have.

If the end result is what the VoLTE initiative focuses on (getting SMS and voice to work over IP), then there’s no real reason for operators to take the plunge – too much risk and effort for nothing more than what they have today.

So what can VoLTE bring to the table that operators can’t do today? And I am not talking about benefits to the operator, but rather new services that they can offer  end users.

Here are a few things I believe will be the main drivers for adoption of VoLTE by operators —

HD Voice

Almost all circuit switching calls today have crappy voice quality we’ve sadly become used to – the one that cuts down anything above 4 KHz of the sound spectrum. HD Voice is something that is being promoted from time to time, and is widely available in IP based solutions.

By moving to VoLTE service providers will be able to support wideband audio (aka HD Voice) by using relevant voice codecs, such as AMR-WB, which can be found in the VoLTE specification itself.

My suggestion to operators here would be to focus on wideband first, and only later deal with the narrow band alternatives.

Video Calling

While VoLTE stands for Voice over LTE, I already stated my opinion that video calling should be first priority for service providers when deploying VoLTE.

Deploying a standard-based video calling service can be the operator’s answer to the myriad of mobile oriented video calling services out there: FaceTime, Google Talk and now Microsoft-Skype.

For an operator this will be something that harvests the great benefits of LTE in terms of bandwidth to replace the low bandwidth/low resolution/low quality 3G-324M video solutions.

Over-the-top (OTT)

With circuit switching an operator was bound to his own network. With IP – he can run his services everywhere – just like any other OTT provider.

This means that when VoLTE gets launched by an operator, they will be able to provide a single “number” to their customers to connect from their mobile handsets, tablets or PCs with ease – just install the operator’s application and you’re good to go.

For operators that have not only mobile services but also wireline ones (either cable or fiber), this can really simplify things.