The Emirati telecommunications company du is scheduled to launch high-definition video calling services by the end of the year on 4G LTE and 5G networks that do not depend on applications. The video calling service over the 4G LTE network is known as ViLTE, and over 5G is known as video over new radio.
“We have successfully tested the feature on our networks and obtained all necessary approvals, both internally and from the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, to start offering the service to customers,” said Saleem Al Balushi, Chief Technology Officer at EITC, du’s parent company. You will use the phone’s app instead of a third-party downloadable app to make video calls. It’s as simple as making a voice call on the phone. We hope to launch the service this year and devices that support Voice over LTE (VoLTE) are expected to now support ViLTE as well. ”
What are VoLTE and ViLTE
VoLTE advantages are high-definition voice, better clarity, faster connection time and the ability to browse the Internet when connected – it is a new cellular technology for mobile network operators.
ViLTE is a cellular data technology based on the IP Multimedia Subs (IMS) system and is considered an extension of VoLTE, which also means that the feature is network dependent.
VoLTE service is only offered to VoLTE certified devices by TRA and the same applies to ViLTE.
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority has banned Skype, Microsoft, FaceTime, Google Duo, and voice and video calling features such as WhatsApp in the United Arab Emirates, because VoIP is a regulated service and its owners need to obtain a license or license from the United Arab Emirates and follow its laws.
However, telecom operators have tied up with more over-the-top (OTT) apps like Botim, C’Me and YzerChat to provide voice and video calls to subscribers for a monthly fee of AED 50 for phone users and AED 100 per month for home Wi-Fi users.
Al Balushi said that OTT applications such as BoTim, YzerChat and C’me have different marketing methods, but our contract will be with customers on a monthly plan.
Two different signaling techniques
Although telecom operators offer third-party apps like Botim and C’me to make voice and video calls in the UAE, Krishna Chinta, research analyst at International Data Corporation (IDC), said that ViLTE and VoIP apps operate on different signaling technologies and they follow different business models.
Chinta said that ViLTE offers HD and Ultra HD voice and picture quality and is billed based on usage, which may vary from one service plan to another while paid VoIP service, on the other hand, comes with a certain monthly usage limit.
