EPC and 4G Packet Networks, 2nd Edition

Chapter 5

Voice Services in EPS

Voice services have been the primary source of revenue for mobile operators since the dawn of basic mobile service offerings in the 1950s. The emergence of GSM technology in the early 1990s was the starting point for the unprecedented global adoption of mobile communication services. By the end of 2011 the number of mobile subscriptions in the world reached around 6 billion and is growing by millions each week. Despite tremendous growth in data-centric mobile Internet devices, the majority of terminals are still voice centric and, at the time of writing this book, voice services generated more than 60% of operators’ revenues.

Voice traffic is still growing, in particular in emerging markets, and given the importance ...