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XConnect sets up high-def voice peering
19 January 2010
XConnect is offering a free three-month trial of a new peering service to operators providing high-definition voice services
Read more:
[XConnect]
[HD voice]
[G.722]
[Polycom]
[Orange]
[BT]
[France Telecom]
Comment: High definition voice is going to be one of those product differences that far-sighted companies will be promoting to indicate that they’re ahead of the standard fixed or mobile service package. It’s surprising that phone networks still operate on a audio frequency range set in the days of manual plug-and-socket phone switches and microphones made of carbon granules. It is as if the recording industry was still locked into 78 rpm mono discs. People notice audio quality and will pay for it.
Peering company XConnect has set up a service for the increasing number of operators offering high-definition voice services.
The system will allow callers using one company’s high-definition network to make HD calls to users of another network.
XConnect CEO Eli Katz commented: “The mass-market adoption of high-definition voice and other new IP services demands trusted, scalable cross-network interconnection.”
The service is being offered as a free trial from April to June 2010. Trial participants will form a private peering community under XConnect’s global alliance.
A number of operators have already launched high-definition voice services — initially in the business market for phone conferences, offered by companies such as Polycom, but more recently in fixed and mobile consumer markets.
France Telecom, for example, launched an HD option for its fixed VoIP customers in France in 2006 and at the end of 2009 announced a mobile service in the UK. HD phone services carry voice frequencies from 50 to 7,000 hertz, compared with the traditional phone’s range of only 300 to 3,400 hertz.
BT also offers high-definition voice as an option for the VoIP phone on its home broadband gateway.
“We look forward to working with the industry to help bring the benefits of HD voice to these operators and the consumer and enterprise markets they serve,” said Katz. “Service providers are eager for a solution.”
Jeff Rodman, Polycom co-founder and CTO, said: “We’re pleased to support XConnect’s HD voice trial, and view it as an important step toward HD voice communication for everyone.”
During the trial, providers using the G.722 wideband codec will be able to test the interoperability, scalable interconnection, reliability and support of XConnect federation services. GTB
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