South Korean operators are gearing up to offer full cross-carrier VoLTE services after entering a landmark three-way agreement.
SK Telecom, KT and LG U+ are expected within this month to launch the first VoLTE services that allow calls between domestic subscribers of different operators, Business Korea reported.
The operators held a joint demonstration of cross-carrier VoLTE with the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning earlier this month.
Three years after the commercialization of VoLTE services in South Korea for customers on the same network, the operators have hammered out agreements on issues including inter-carrier connection fees and common payment systems.
Now the operators plan to use the introduction of cross-carrier VoLTE to develop new mobile services, and are exploring areas including real-time mobile interpretation and mobile doctor services, the report states.
Operators in other markets are exploring introducing cross-carrier VoLTE services. In the US, for example, AT&T and Verizon announced a collaboration on VoLTE interoperability a year ago. VoLTE roaming agreements between operators in different markets are also becoming increasingly common.
But this is believed to be the first time all the major operators in a telecom market have agreed to jointly implement cross-network VoLTE services.