Telstra has implemented HD voice across its Next G 3G network, in what vendor partner Ericsson is claiming is the world's largest deployment to date.
The operator said it had upgraded its network to use Wideband Adaptive Multi-Rate coding.
Currently Telstra only offers a handful of handsets that support the technology, but the operator expects “a large percentage” of the phones it agrees to sell this year to have HD voice support.
Telstra's core and radio access network software was upgradable to HD voice under a previous agreement with Ericsson, an option which the operator has now taken.
Ericsson revealed that the deployment covers over 2.1 million square kilometers of landmass.
Telstra has beaten rivals Optus and Vodafone Hutchison Australia to the punch to become the first major Australian mobile operator to deploy HD voice.
While operator interest in HD voice is growing worldwide, with companies including France Telecom and 3 UK deploying the technology, VoIP players have traditionally been leading adoption.