14 DAY TRIAL // Mobile phone carrier Orange UK announced a few days ago that it planned on delivering a new feature to its users during the ongoing year, namely High Definition (HD) Voice. The carrier said that the new feature would come to all of the users of its mobile network, and that the move was aimed at showing that the company was always focused on innovation, thus becoming the first carrier in the UK to launch HD Voice nationwide.
According to Orange, the introduction of HD Voice is expected to start a new age in mobile communications in the country, as it will set a new standard in the telecoms industry. HD Voice is expected to provide users with excellent audio quality when it comes to mobile calls, and all Orange customers with an HD Voice-enabled device will be able to benefit from it. Moreover, the carrier said that it was currently working with leading mobile phone makers around the world for the development of such devices.
“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,” Tom Alexander, CEO of Orange UK, commented on the announcement.
The wireless operator also stated that it made great investments in its mobile network, and that the upcoming launch would be based on those enhancements, which included expansions and upgrades all around the UK. According to Orange, its network covers over 93 percent of UK's population at the moment, and it has been also voted as the ‘Best Network’ by the readers of What Mobile magazine.
HD Voice makes use of the WB-AMR (Wideband Adaptive Multi-Rate) speech codec, the company notes, adding that this feature delivers a great audio quality courtesy of a wider speech bandwidth of 50–7000 Hz. The codec is expected to provide a greatly improved sound quality on the same network resources, the carrier added. Additional details on the launch of HD Voice from Orange will emerge during the ongoing year.