VoLTE revenues will hit almost $100 billion (€89bn) within five years, new research has claimed, as deployments accelerate globally.
A report from Juniper Research said VoLTE would account for 12 percent of total voice and data service revenues from operators.
Orange in Romania and Three in the UK were among the latest operators to launch a VoLTE service to their customers.
According to figures from the GSA, there are 25 operators in 16 countries which have launched VoLTE services to its customers.
The report also found that HD voice is continuing to prove popular, with more than 130 operators globally offering the service.
However, the growing popularity of VoLTE services will not damage the growth of OTT voice. By 2020, sales from these services will hit more than $10 billion (€8.9bn), a fivefold increase on 2015.
The report said: “OTT application providers such as Skype and WhatsApp would experience a significant rise in traffic and revenue potential as 4G network rollouts accelerate, thereby increasing their capability to offer high-quality VoIP (Voice over IP) calls.”
Researchers noted how operators are trying to ape OTT rivals by offering their own VoLTE and VoWiFi services through white label players. It added: “However, it cautioned that such initiatives historically had mixed results, with both Telefonica’s TuMe and O2’s TuGo service having been discontinued.”
However, Telefónica has not been dissauded by the failure of TuMe and TuGo. Last month O2 Germany launched a joyn-based Wi-Fi calling app.