lessons learned: implementing volte roaming
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#VoLTELessons
Lessons Learned: Implementing VoLTE Roaming
Mary ClarkChief Marketing Officer, Syniverse @SyniverseCMO
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#VoLTELessons
Global VoLTE Deployments
Commercially launched VoLTE
Investing in VoLTE deployments
111 MNOs investing in
VoLTE - GSA
30 MNOs in 21 countries
with commercially
launched VoLTE voice service
- GSA
755 million LTE connections
worldwide - GSA
442 commercially launched LTE
networks - 147 countries
- GSA
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#VoLTELessons
VoLTE Market Forecast
83% of carriers surveyed say they will deploy VoLTE by 2016
- Infonetics
72M VoLTE roaming MOUs in 2015278M VoLTE roaming MOUs in 2016VoLTE roaming MOUs will grow by CAGR of 145% over next 5 years to
reach 4.7B by 2020- HOT TELECOM
600 million Smartphone users worldwide will use VoLTE by 2018 as their default voice
service - Analysys Mason
VoLTE connections forecast – Analysys Mason, 2015
Current state of VoLTE launches– Analysys Mason, 2015
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#VoLTELessons
Already Launched
Next 6 Months 6-12 Months
12 Months or Beyond Undecided
If you are planning to launch LTE/VoLTE on your home network, what is your timeline?
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#VoLTELessons
Haven’t Launched Home
Network YetNext 6 Months 6-12 Months
12 Months or Beyond Undecided
If you are planning to launch LTE/VoLTE roaming, what is your timeline?
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#VoLTELessons
Keith Dyer, Founder and Editor, The Mobile Network Founded The Mobile Network in 2013, introducing a new voice to the
media covering mobile network technology. 17 years experience covering the mobile network technology ecosystem
as a journalist and editor. Tracked the development of the VoLTE ecosystem since its beginnings.
John Wick, Senior Vice President and General Manager – Mobile Transaction Services, Syniverse Responsible for the management and growth of Syniverse’s IP, SS7 and
number portability product lines. Joined Syniverse in 1993 as a senior critical support analyst with the
network operations department. Certified Six Sigma Black Belt.
Today’s Expert Panelists
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#VoLTELessons
Keith Dyer
Founder and Editor, The Mobile Network@keithdyer
#VoLTELessons
VOLTE – operator experiences
05/03/2023 VoLTE I Operator Experiences and Learning 9
• Clear commitment to the service• But it’s not been
easy…
#VoLTELessons
VOLTE – operator experiences
05/03/2023 VoLTE I Operator Experiences and Learning 10
• Optimisation and tuning of radio network
• New characterisation and visibility for quality assurance
• Extensive and complex testing • Intensive efforts in IMS• Integration Billing and BSS• Device support• Consumer education
“This is the most complex thing I’ve ever worked on in 20 years.”
#VoLTELessons
VOLTE – operator experiences
05/03/2023 VoLTE I Operator Experiences and Learning 11
“Our customers love it…”
Customer benefits• Set-up time
SK Telecom customer survey
• Call quality• Battery upside• Service richness?
#VoLTELessons
VOLTE – operator experiences
05/03/2023 VoLTE I Operator Experiences and Learning 12
Do operators love it more?
• Long term spectrum turn-off• More efficient use existing spectrum
• Signalling efficiency of all IP• Potential for new (IMS) services
• Supporting infrastructure enables VoWifi
#VoLTELessons
VOLTE – operator experiences
05/03/2023 VoLTE I Operator Experiences and Learning 13
Limited VoLTE roaming to date… why?
• LG UPlus & KDDI• LG UPlus & Smartone• NTT and KT
Credit: Ovum Whitepaper, Feb 2015
#VoLTELessons
VOLTE – operator experiences
05/03/2023 VoLTE I Operator Experiences and Learning 14
Well, why enable VoLTE roaming anyway?• Customer access to high quality
voice and video calls• Keep customers on-brand
• Ensure quality for high value customers• Long term – 2/3G switch off in home/visited
networks• Fate – it’s going to happen anyway
#VoLTELessons
VOLTE – operator experiences
05/03/2023 VoLTE I Operator Experiences and Learning 15
The technical hurdles
• RAVEL - complexity• S8HR – lacks feature
supportFix it at home first…
India Times – December 2015
#VoLTELessons
VOLTE – operator experiences
05/03/2023 VoLTE I Operator Experiences and Learning 16
CONCLUSIONS AND QUESTIONS
• How should we do it?
Real commitments, it will happen but operators are asking…
• When should we deploy?
#VoLTELessons
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#VoLTELessons
John Wick
Senior Vice President and General Manager Mobile Transaction Services, Syniverse
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#VoLTELessons
VoLTE Interconnect vs. VoLTE Roaming
IPX
MNO A MNO B
VoLTE Interconnect
IPX
MNO A MNO B
VoLTE Roaming
MNO A Subscriber@ Home
MNO B Subscriber@ Home
MNO A SubscriberRoaming
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#VoLTELessons
Challenges Lawful intercept/Emergency calling
Lawful intercept – allows home network, but not at visited network location
Emergency calling Voice Call Continuity (moving from VoLTE to CS)
No service visibility for VPMN Distinguishing data traffic from VoLTE by APN and QCI
only SMS not distinguishable from signaling
Cannot retail bill based on TAP
VoLTE Roaming Scenarios Home-Based Routing (S8HR)
Advantages Faster to deploy than LBO – Uses same GTP
tunnel as LTE Data Roaming traffic Utilizes the same components already in evolved
packet core (VPMN does not require IMS Core) Can use same data IOT charges with roaming
partners, no need to update roaming agreements for IMS services
Uses existing TAP and RAEX with only minor changes
IPX
IPX
E-UTRAN
MME
VPMN A-Party HPMN A-Party
B-Party
HSS
P-CSCF
S-CSCF
TAS
SGW
DRA
IBCF
VoLTERoaming
Interconnect
IMS
IMS eXchange
PCRF
PGW
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#VoLTELessons
VoLTE Roaming Scenarios Local Breakout
Advantages Session awareness at the served network Visibility into the control and media plane of a
call or video session taking place Gives ability to offer lawful intercept and
emergency call handling Continuity of a voice call between LTE and CS Support for billing model - TAP for retail billing
Challenges Complexity (flexibility and power, but more complex) IMS interoperability challenges with LBO – different
vendors/different implementation Requires multiple feeds from many network elements for
both VPMN and HPMN LBO for VoLTE with S8HR for data adds complexity New TAP record types (mobile session/messaging event) that
are unused today
IPX
IPX
xCSCF
MME
VPMN A-Party HPMN A-Party
B-Party
HSS
P-CSCF
S-CSCF
TAS
IBCF
DRA
IBCF
VoLTERoaming
VoLTE Interconnect
EPC
IMS
IMS
IMS eXchange
IMS eXchange
PCRF
IBCF
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#VoLTELessons
First Transoceanic VoLTE Roaming• Collaboration with an American and Japanese operator to enable the world’s
first transoceanic VoLTE roaming call based on an S8HR architecture
Established VoLTE roaming between South Korea and Japan• LG Uplus subscribers from Korea roaming onto the KDDI network in Japan
Launch of the world’s first commercial VoLTE roaming service• LG Uplus subscribers from Korea roaming onto the SmarTone network in Hong
Kong
Lessons Learned:VoLTE Roaming Trials and Implementation
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#VoLTELessons
Connection setup and call quality are better than 3G Real time control of voice traffic - eliminates need
for CAMEL, helps control fraud Handsets do not default to VoLTE for roaming
Operators must work with handset vendors to modify defaults
Assumed that the home operator would support lawful intercept. Not valid in all cases due to regulations within
countries. Charging for VoLTE needs to be worked out by each
operator. Example: Some operators charge LTE data IOT rates for
VoLTE. If operators prefer a different IOT they must distinguish VoLTE from LTE data using APNs/QCIs.
Lessons Learned – S8HR
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#VoLTELessons
Operators must understand how their roaming partner(s) supports S8HR How QCIs are configured Maximum bit rate for each QCI Number of APNs and which APNs are supported per QCI
Video calls started during voice calls difficult to distinguish by VPMN Appears as another data flow so two separate TAP records
are created HPMN needs to consider correlation of records for retail
billing SMS is viewed as signaling
If signaling is not charged between roaming partners SMS is no charge
May open the door for messaging SPAM GSMA recommends charging for signaling to alleviate
potential issues
Lessons Learned – S8HR
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#VoLTELessons
Q&A
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#VoLTELessons
Thank You!
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