Verizon Wireless has moved back the timeframe for deploying handsets without CDMA chipsets by two years. The company plans to debut VoLTE service by the end of 2014, but will continue to use its CDMA network for the bulk of voice calls for another two years.
Verizon earlier had said VoLTE-only devices would appear this year. “For us, when we launch a new technology, we have to make sure our quality is strong because the CDMA network was so strong,” said CFO Fran Shammo to investors. “We don’t go before we know it’s ready.” Shammo’s comments indicate Verizon isn’t yet confident in the quality of its forthcoming VoLTE service, which was originally expected to kick off last year.
T-Mobile has expanded the reach of its VoLTE service to 200 million people, and AT&T launched VoLTE in a limited fashion across the midwest earlier this year. Sprint hasn’t said if or when it will deploy VoLTE. Verizon’s Shammo said the company will finish deploying LTE on its AWS spectrum holdings by the end of the year.
Verizon is using the AWS spectrum to supplement the LTE coverage and capacity provided by its 700MHz spectrum. Shammo also noted the company is looking at LTE Broadcast technology, but any sort of deployment is about a year away
