Orange has revealed it will be launching HD Voice nationwide for customers on its mobile network in 2010.
In case you are wondering what HD Voice is, it’s the use of WB-AMR (Wideband Adaptive Multi-Rate) as a codec. This provides excellent audio quality due to a wider speech bandwidth of 50–7000 Hz compared to the current narrowband speech codec of 300–3400 Hz. The WB-AMR (Wideband Adaptive Multi-Rate) delivers significantly enhanced sound quality whilst utilising the same network resources. Orange is already working with leading handset manufacturers on the development of devices to be rolled out next year. The 2010 launch follows two years of investment in the Orange mobile network with expansion and technology upgrades across large areas of the UK.
Tom Alexander, CEO of Orange UK, said: “Orange is proud to be leading the industry into the next decade by announcing a new standard in voice innovation that will transform the mobile experience for customers in the UK. HD Voice really does inject a level of innovation into mobile phone calls, making it sound as if callers are actually in the same room. Once people have tried it, they won’t want to go back.”
Interesting one, isn’t it – personally I think the terminology is wrong, and should actually be ‘Hi-Fi voice’, since we usually refer to the ‘fidelity of audio. However, they’ve gone for the buzzword gold and used the current term ‘HD’ (relating to video) to represent something to do with audio. On top of that, handsets are going to either have to be replaced (or at least software-upgraded) with devices that can support WB-AMR – so it’s not instantly going to be ‘switched on’ for everyone. BUT there is real innovation leadership here, and that should be praised – good one Orange!