Even though the concept of “HD Mobile Voice” is brand new and relatively obscure, a new report suggests an estimated 487 million people will be toting HD-enabled handsets by 2015.
As the name suggests, HD voice simply means much higher quality mobile voice calling, and the report suggests development has already been in the works for years. Though the market is relatively nonexistent at the moment, ABI Research argues growth is expected to ramp up quickly in 2013, and then skyrocket starting in 2014.
The only problem is HD voice relies heavily on 3G networks with plenty of bandwidth to spare, given that HD voice signals will gobble up much more than they currently do. Parts of the world with newer 3G networks will be the first to enjoy HD voice, though a worldwide trend will undoubtedly follow.
In many countries of Eastern Europe, Latin America, Middle East and Africa, the infrastructure is already in place and ready for HD voice- all that’s left is to start offering HD voice-enabled handsets. 3G infrastructure in North America and Western Europe, however, was installed earlier and must be changed/upgraded to properly support HD voice.
To me, wireless networks need to stay focused on data bandwidth instead of occupying it with more voice packets. With the evolution of VoIP, traditional voice calling will one day be a thing of the past anyway. Either way, this will definitely be something to keep an eye on.
