If you’ve got an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus on the AT&T network and you’ve called another Houston-area AT&T customer with a similar smartphone, you may have noticed the call sounds different.
That’s because the call IS different. AT&T has switched on a new technology in Houston called HD Voice, which uses the company’s high-speed, LTE data network to carry voice calls. This approach is called Voice Over LTE, or VoLTE, and it’s already being offered by Verizon and T-Mobile, depending on whether handsets support it.
I discovered it earlier this week when I used my iPhone 6 to call my wife – who has the same model – and the call sounded remarkably different. It was clearer, with much higher fidelity. It sounded like a great Skype call.
One another clue: The data network indicator at the top left of the home screen shows LTE when you make a call on an iPhone 6. Previously, that indicator changed to 4G during a call, as the device dropped back to AT&T’s older, slower HSPVA+ data network. This means that, if you talk and use data at the same time, your data applications should be faster. (And no, HD Voice calls don’t count against your data cap.)
Local AT&T spokesman Carlos Ramirez confirmed that HD Voice had been switched on in Houston, but would offer no other details. VoLTE, however, enables other features, including carrier-based video calling and better switching between Wi-Fi and cell-network calling. Read this CNet article to learn about other benefits of VoLTE. You can learn more about AT&T’s implementation here.
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