Comparing the volume of transmitted voice traffic, the MTS company reported that the duration of Russians’ calls using VoLTE technology (voice over the Internet in LTE networks) increased by 43% in January – September 2023, and their share was up to 34%. Its network in Russia is based on VoLTE technology for 9 months of this year and the same period in 2022.
MTS analysts concluded that in January – September 2023, the Moscow region is the leader in voice traffic via VoLTE. Almost every second search in the capital was made using this technology – their share was 48% – in 9 months of 2022 the figure was 39%.
Novosibirsk region ranks second with 43%. The third place is taken by the Ivanovo region, St. Petersburg, with a share of 40%. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, Krasnoyarsk and Perm regions.
The company notes that the largest increase in VoLTE traffic (hundreds of times) occurred in the Volgograd, Rostov and Sverdlovsk regions and in Chuvashia, where the technical ability to make calls via the LTE network appeared at the end of last year.
These are followed by the Kaliningrad region, where VoLTE traffic increased by 6 times, the Republic of Mari El by 4.6 times, and the Kursk region by 4 times.
“In general, in the nine months of this year, the number of regions where voice traffic in the LTE network exceeded traffic in 2G and 3G networks increased by 2.5 times compared to last year,” MTS said in a statement.
According to Inessa Galaktionova, First Vice President of MTS telecommunications business, today no more than 5% of MTS subscribers in Russia use devices without LTE support.
“This share will decrease in the coming years, which will allow us not only to transfer all voice traffic to LTE, but also to complete retooling (reuse 3G frequencies in 4G networks),” said the company’s top executive.
Galaktionova emphasized that MTS is updating and expanding its network, increasing LTE coverage and introducing modern technologies such as VoWi-Fi and VoLTE, including voice transmission.
“And the release of frequencies will not only improve the quality of voice services, but will also make it possible to increase the speed of mobile Internet by about 30%,” he added.
MTS press service announced that the company currently supports VoLTE technology in 81 constituent entities of the Russian Federation.