VoLTE Call Drop Problem is Worse Than 2G or 3G Voice

In its annual State of the RAN report, Amdocs says VoLTE can lead to call drop rates 400 percent to 500 percent higher than that of 2G and 3G voice.

With aggressive tuning of the network, operators can bring VoLTE call drops to within 20 percent of 2G and 3G calling within six months, Amdocs argues.

In other words, as so often is the case, there is good news and bad news with the deployment of the new capability.

VoLTE can lower offers operating expense, as it uses a more efficient coding scheme. And when operators can reallocate 2G or 3G bandwidth for other purposes, VoLTE can help operators keep capital investment under better control, principally by delaying the point where additional spectrum acquisitions or network redesign must be undertaken.

Perhaps in part, the problem with VoLTE call drops is indoor coverage. Some 75 percent of network traffic in cities is indoor.

That is a potential problem for networks using any frequencies, but much more troublesome for higher frequencies (2 GHz, for example, compared to 600 MHz, 700 MHz or 800 MHz).

Compared to outdoor users, indoor users face a 25 percent increase in network problems in periods of high demand, Amdocs argues.