Verizon and AT&T Plan to Allow Cross-Carrier VoLTE Calls

dgstorm

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AT&T and Verizon plan to make cross-carrier VoLTE calls possible between their two networks. Is anyone really surprised by this when you think about it? One, it would be asinine to not make this possible considering that people need to be able to connect to others regardless of which carrier they are on. This is especially important considering that both networks see a future where all calls are VoLTE. Two, since VoLTE will use your data line instead of a cellular network it will eventually allow either carrier to charge overage fees for data phone calls. Regardless of the reasons for doing it, the two companies are working it out.

Here's a quote from Verizon's press release,

“Customers use their smartphones to connect with friends, family and colleagues across service providers and around the world. Interoperability among all VoLTE providers takes connectivity to the next level with HD quality voice and additional features that customers want,” said Tony Melone, chief technology officer at Verizon. “We’re pleased to be working with AT&T as our first interoperating carrier, and we look forward to working with other operators as VoLTE continues to grow.”

“Interoperability of VoLTE between wireless carriers is crucial to a positive customer experience,” said Krish Prabhu, president, AT&T Labs and Chief Technology Officer, AT&T. “Customers expect to be able to connect anywhere, anytime– and as LTE technology continues to evolve, it’s imperative that we provide a seamless experience between carriers. We are pleased to work with Verizon on this initiative. We continue to work with others in the industry on similar collaborative arrangements and hope to see similar collaboration across the industry in the near future.”

Source: Verizon
 

TatDroid

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It's really the only way VoLTE could ever be successful. The only way my call will use VoLTE is if the person I'm calling has it, too. So if Verizon VoLTE calls could only happen between Verizon customers, or AT&T calls between their customers, a huge portion of phone calls would not be on VoLTE networks. Obviously that's not going to work for the carriers. They would like all calls to be over VoLTE, and not be dependent on the service of the person you're calling.

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FoxKat

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Just to clarify for everyone and to avoid confusion...

Just because you're on VoLTE, and you initiate a call, even if you're in a 4G area you can still call 3G phones, 4G phones & land lines. VoLTE will apparently only work between two VoLTE phones in order to take advantage of the higher call quality, 6-way calling, etc. You will still be able to make the traditional cellular calls
 
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dgstorm

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Yep... I didn't include that in the article, but it's important to make a note of it. Still, both companies want their shiny new "data hungry" VoLTE feature to be something that everyone uses, so they needed to create this compatibility for it to be successful.
 
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Rognish

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I'm no expert, But I did stay at a holiday inn express last night :D. I thought I read previously that your "phone" calls would not use your "data".
 

liftedplane

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I'm no expert, But I did stay at a holiday inn express last night :D. I thought I read previously that your "phone" calls would not use your "data".
keep in mind these key words

for now...

if big reds track record is ANY indication, they'll renege on that deal
 

xeene

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Here is a funny glitch somewhere between volte, LG and Verizon.
For the past couple weeks Verizon can't figure out why my wife's LG g2 volte enabled phone can't initialize incoming calls from non Verizon customers. Let it be att, land line or voip phones when her phone rings and she answers it's silence on both ends. If she calls them back it connects without problems. This started happening after we enabled volte on her LG g2. My droid maxx on other hand doesn't experience same problem and it too is volte enabled. We currently have a trouble ticket open with tier 3 network engineers that are stumped about it. Go figure.
 

TatDroid

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since VoLTE will use your data line instead of a cellular network it will eventually allow either carrier to charge overage fees for data phone calls.
Just to avoid panic, it's important to note the word "eventually". Verizon has made it clear that currently all VoLTE calls will be recorded as cellular calls and NOT data usage. How and when that may change in the future is anyone's guess.
EDIT: Sorry, didn't see the post above that already noted this!
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Rognish

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hmmm I have a co-worker who has a ip6 and he recently turned on the option that allows voice & data at the same time and he is burning through his data he is already at 7gb+ only 1/3 way through billing cycle.
 

cr6

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Without seeing his device, its impossible to assume he's "burning through" his data because of this. I can assure you all 7+ gig are not due to this alone.

S5 tap'n
 
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