Vo5G, used as a short form for Voice over 5G, is another spectacular term doing the rounds amidst the global 5G community. Though we mostly talk of the improved data speed and capacity advantages in view of 5G, voice services will still be significant.
Due to the lightning-fast speeds 5G will offer (with many claim it to be as fast as 10Gb/s or 10000Mbit/s) and relatively lower latency (predicted to fall to 1 millisecond), the focus around 5G has been immense on several new technologies and services this will inspire, such as autonomous and connected cars, smart cities, smart factories, and virtual and augmented reality.
Why should you care?
However, with numerous promising possibilities coming with 5G, voice services will still be significant and, they could get a never-seen-before facelift. This will tremendous news for telecommunications enterprises that have seen several revenue streams from voice services slump or fall flat in recent times, as data use has skyrocketed.
Vo5G is all in readiness to offer considerably enhanced voice capabilities along with end-to-end support for ultra HD (high-definition) voice communications. It is likely to see voice become an integral part of upcoming 5G-driven services.
A recent Mind Commerce report claimed that though the significance of voice as a standalone service will continue to dip, voice services will be embedded as a critical feature in upcoming 5G-enabled services, including remote robotics control, augmented reality, virtual reality, telepresence applications and several other IoT-powered consumer services.
This is likely to have major applications in entertainment and gaming; healthcare; industrial settings; and a lot more.
Vo5G has the potential to bring virtual reality telepresence communication to life at anytime, anywhere, specialist claim. As well as for different industries discussed above, Vo5G could have a major impact for businesses in general – making teleconferencing and remote working much more viable and effective.
MindCommerce estimates that when 5G comes into play and these new services launch, we’ll experience a shift away from mobile phones as the predominant consumer communications device.
North America is being forecasted as the biggest regional market for Vo5G which could witness revenues worth up to $29.1bn by 2023. Asia and Europe are likely to be the next major markets with 77% and 69.3% growth in revenue respectively.
What’s next?
The advent of the Vo5G market will include emphasis around network topology, software and equipment upgrades as well as integration. Vo5G is expected to witness a progression from Voice over LTE (VoLTE) to Voice over New Radio (VoNR), as per MindCommerce, because 5G will be powered by radio frequency (RF) through millimeter wave propagation. In addition, Vo5G is also expected to predominantly replace Wi-Fi as the input medium for a wide range of user interfaces which depend on Wi-Fi at present.
Huawei recently published a new technical whitepaper regarding Vo5G. The whitepaper states that Vo5G was standardized in the latest release of 3GPP in June and encouraged the communications industry to join hands for collectively defining Vo5G solutions to avoid the chances of fragmentation. As such, 5G stakeholders will be required to consider options such as VoeLTE (Voice over Enhanced LTE), VoNR, RAT FB (Radio Access Technology Fallback), and EPS FB (Evolved Packet System Fallback).
As per Huawei, VoLTE and IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) are crucial to Vo5G.
The whitepaper states that Vo5G has been standardized with the standard 3GPP 5G process, and Vo5G must be delivered on the basis of IMS. VoLTE will serve as the fundamental voice network in the 5G world and work with Vo5G to make sure the steadiness of voice services. As a result, adopting the IMS and speeding up the commercial application of VoLTE is the only way to move forward towards the deployment of Vo5G.
When can you use Vo5G?
Some nations are looking to roll out commercial 5G networks early this year. You’ll need a 5G-compatible smartphone or device to use Vo5G, and most manufacturers are looking to roll out a 5G-enabled smartphone by the end of 2019 – therefore you won’t have to wait much.