4G coverage in the US and its impact on VoIP

4G is the latest wave of high-speed networks deployed by US carriers and the number of 4G markets or areas has been constantly expanding over the last 2 years. From LTE to HSPA +, there are all kinds of technologies involved, but what they all have in common is that they offer faster speeds than old 3G networks.

The increase in 4G coverage has already had an impact on VoIP and will continue to do so, as mobile network speeds will only improve over time. One of the benefits of VoIP is that it allows employees to work even when they are on-site in remote locations or traveling. However, using VoIP through mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets will not provide a good experience, as the bandwidth available to them is usually less than that available in the office.

Because of this, many organizations have been hesitant to implement VoIP (particularly if a large portion of their workforce will be accessing it via mobile) while others struggle with serious call quality issues. Faster mobile data speeds will solve this problem for many organizations, accelerating the transition from POTS to VoIP. It also opens up more opportunities for VoIP equipment providers, hosted providers, and resellers.

The proliferation of high-speed data networks has led to new business models using VoIP. For example, Republic Wireless can offer extremely inexpensive smartphone plans because its users primarily use VoIP to make calls when they have Wi-Fi access. With previous 3G speeds, call quality could drop significantly when switching from Wi-Fi networks to carrier networks, but with 4G, the difference is hardly noticeable. With the improved pass-through technology, most consumers will hardly notice if they are using VoIP or regular cellular networks to make a call.

Even incumbents like Verizon and AT&T have plans to introduce VoIP calls on their networks to take advantage of faster 4G speeds. Since VoIP would use the same data network for voice calls, operators would no longer have to maintain two separate systems: one for voice and one for data. In fact, carriers have been busy developing VoLTE as a competitor to VoIP (although the technology is still in its infancy compared to alternatives).

With the increasing emphasis on mobility and convergence, it seems that we are moving into a new world where all data is treated the same and transmitted over a network.