2010-02-11

HD voice live in Barcelona

• HD voice gives the world's best voice quality for mobile networks
• Enthusiastic consumer reactions: "It's just like being in the same room!"
• Orange and Ericsson bring HD voice to Barcelona

HD voice quality will be available in Orange's commercial network in the Barcelona area during the GSMA Mobile World Congress global telecom event, taking place in Barcelona February 15-18. Orange will deliver the service together with Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC), which will supply the radio access and core network technology.

HD voice transforms traditional voice calls, making them sound as though callers are having a face-to-face conversation. It is available in the Barcelona area, where consumers will be able to experience the world's best voice quality for mobile networks.

Thierry Piganeau, Director of the Mobile Business Unit, Orange, says: "With HD voice, Orange leads a new standard for voice innovation that transforms the wireless experience for customers by offering much higher quality in their communications. Once they try the service, they will not want to leave it because it allows listeners to hear as though they were in the same room. Orange is proud to be leading the industry into the next decade by announcing this new standard in voice innovation."

Ulf Ewaldsson, Vice President and Head of Product Area Radio at Ericsson, says: "HD voice transforms the voice experience. Consumer research recently performed in Spain by Ericsson ConsumerLab shows that call quality becomes the business differentiator between operators. The research showed great response from consumers, who felt they were better able to share feelings, do business and communicate information with HD voice."

HD voice provides better audio quality thanks to a new coder with wider speech bandwidth that does not increase the capacity need in the radio network compared to regular calls. Users experience high voice quality when both phones are HD-enabled. AMR Wideband technology enables HD voice for mobile networks.

Orange and Ericsson invite all industry players to use the HD voice functionality in Orange's network during the Mobile World Congress to further strengthen the ecosystem for HD voice.

Information about the company: Telefon AB LM Ericsson