(GSM Insider) - Yo. MetroPCS customers, are you ready for the Voice over LTE (VoLTE) services? Yes. Voice over LTE (VoLTE) services just officially launched by MetroPCS. In the same time, MetroPCS also announced the first Voice over LTE (VoLTE) compatible handset - the LG Connect 4G smartphone.
With this announcement, MetroPCS beat SK Telecom to become the World's first to launch Voice over LTE (VoLTE) services.
Press release from MetroPCS:
DALLAS, Aug. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (NYSE: PCS) today reached another innovation milestone by announcing the world's first commercial launch of Voice over LTE (VoLTE) services, availability of the world's first VoLTE-capable handsets and the first sale of a VoLTE-capable handset at one of the company's Dallas/Fort Worth store locations. MetroPCS is selling the new VoLTE-capable LG Connect 4G Android™ smartphone at select U.S. stores and will continue to roll out VoLTE services and phones in the coming weeks.
"Being the first operator globally to reach this industry first speaks volumes about our company's innovative spirit and passion to achieve goals that we believe will have long-term benefit for our customers and for the company," said Roger Linquist, chairman and chief executive officer of MetroPCS. "The initial move to LTE and this move to VoLTE allow us to achieve significant spectral efficiencies and will increase network capacity so that we can enhance the 4G LTE experience that our customers have today at a tremendous value. VoLTE also provides a foundational capability for future Rich Communication Services (RCS), which we plan to launch later this year."
The addition of VoLTE capabilities to MetroPCS' 4G LTE handsets will be transparent to consumers as they continue to enjoy all the voice and 4G LTE data services with which they are already familiar. Calls to and from the handset will use VoLTE, regardless of the handset or network used on the other end of the call.
MetroPCS was the first U.S. carrier to deploy a commercial 4G LTE network in September 2010 and has since built out its 4G LTE network to cover roughly 90 percent of its CDMA footprint.
For more information, please visit:
Details on rate plans and service features: www.metropcs.com/plans
[Source]Details on rate plans and service features: www.metropcs.com/plans
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