The MTS company reported a substantial shift in voice traffic toward VoLTE, revealing that the duration of Russians’ calls over the LTE network increased by 43% in January through September 2023, with VoLTE accounting for as much as 34% of overall voice traffic during that period. The company notes that VoLTE has become a standard feature across its Russian network for nine months of the year, marking a notable change from the same window in 2022.
Analyzing the regional data, MTS found that the Moscow region led the way in VoLTE voice traffic during January to September 2023. In the capital, nearly every second search for voice-related activity occurred via VoLTE, with a share reaching 48% for those nine months, up from 39% in the same period of 2022. The pattern signals a rapid adoption of LTE-based voice services among urban users and more demanding mobile communication needs in large metropolitan areas.
Following Moscow, the Novosibirsk region ranked second with 43% of voice traffic on VoLTE. The Ivanovo region and St. Petersburg were tied for third place at 40%. The overall regional distribution shows a broad geographic spread, with Petersburg and the Leningrad region, along with the Krasnoyarsk and Perm regions, contributing meaningful VoLTE activity as part of the national transition.
MTS also highlighted significant regional accelerations in VoLTE usage, noting that the largest growth occurred in Volgograd, Rostov, and Sverdlovsk regions, as well as in Chuvashia. In these areas, the introduction of VoLTE came late last year, and the service quickly scaled as LTE networks expanded and devices compatible with VoLTE became prevalent. The company emphasizes that the gains in VoLTE usage reflect both improved network readiness and user willingness to adopt higher-quality, phone-based voice services over LTE rather than legacy networks.
Other regions followed with notable surges. Kaliningrad saw VoLTE traffic grow roughly sixfold, while the Republic of Mari El experienced about a 4.6-fold increase, and Kursk around four times. These figures illustrate a nationwide shift as more subscribers migrate from 2G and 3G to LTE for voice communication, driven by better call quality and more efficient spectrum use.
In presenting the overall nine-month period, MTS stated that the number of regions where LTE voice traffic exceeded 2G and 3G voice traffic rose by about 2.5 times compared with the previous year. This trend underscores the accelerated migration to LTE as the default platform for voice services across Russia, a transition supported by ongoing network modernization and spectrum reallocation strategies.
Speaking about device compatibility, Inessa Galaktionova, First Vice President of MTS Telecommunications Business, noted that at present, no more than 5% of MTS subscribers in Russia use devices without LTE support. She added that this share is expected to decline further in the coming years, enabling the company to shift all voice traffic to LTE and to repurpose 3G frequencies for 4G networks. This evolution is part of a broader strategy to optimize radio resources and boost overall network performance.
Galaktionova also stressed that MTS continues to update and expand its network, extend LTE coverage, and roll out modern technologies such as VoWi-Fi and VoLTE to enhance voice transmission. She pointed out that releasing more radio frequencies will not only improve voice quality but also increase mobile internet speeds by around 30%, delivering faster data experiences alongside clearer calls for customers.
The MTS press service confirmed that VoLTE technology is currently supported across 81 constituent entities of the Russian Federation, illustrating the breadth of the rollout and the company’s commitment to delivering LTE-based voice services to a significant portion of the population. The continued expansion and upgrade of the network aim to ensure that more regions experience reliable, high-quality voice and data services as LTE becomes the default network standard across the country.