Lessons Learned: Implementing VoLTE Roaming APAC
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The document outlines lessons learned from implementing VoLTE roaming, including current market forecasts, challenges, and a case study of bilateral VoLTE roaming between two tier 1 LTE operators in Asia. Key findings indicate improved voice quality and faster call setup compared to 3G but highlight issues related to lawful intercept, emergency calling, and billing complexities. Operators are advised to collaborate with handset manufacturers and understand regulatory requirements for successful implementation.
Lessons Learned: Implementing VoLTE Roaming APAC
- 1. 1 #VoLTELessons Lessons Learned: Implementing VoLTE Roaming Michael O’Brien Senior Vice President – Business Development, Syniverse
- 2. 2 #VoLTELessons Global VoLTE Deployments Commercially launched VoLTE Investing in VoLTE deployments 111 MNOs investing in VoLTE - GSA 30 MNOs in 21 countries with commercially launched VoLTE voice service - GSA 755million LTE connections worldwide - GSA 442 commercially launched LTE networks - 147 countries - GSA
- 3. 3 #VoLTELessons VoLTE Market Forecast 83% of carriers surveyed say they will deploy VoLTE this year - Infonetics 72M VoLTE roaming MOUs in 2015 278M VoLTE roaming MOUs in 2016 VoLTE roaming MOUs will grow by CAGR of 145% over next 5 years to reach 4.7B by 2020 - HOT TELECOM 600 million Smartphone users worldwide will use VoLTE by 2018 as their default voice service - Analysys Mason VoLTE connections forecast – Analysys Mason, 2015 Current state of VoLTE launches – Analysys Mason, 2015
- 4. 4 #VoLTELessons Real-time Call Control Such as Prepaid Richer Voice Services Such as HD Voice Competitive Differentiator All None Other What is the Most Important Driver to You for Implementing VoLTE Roaming?
- 5. 5 #VoLTELessons John Wick, Senior Vice President and General Manager – Mobile Transaction Services, Syniverse Responsible for the management and growth of Syniverse’s IP, SS7 and number portability product lines. Joined Syniverse in 1993 as a senior critical support analyst with the network operations department. Certified Six Sigma Black Belt. George Lam, Senior Executive Sales Director, Syniverse 15 years of solid GSM International Roaming experience including 12 years managing international roaming and wholesale business in 2 major MNOs in Hong Kong. Pioneer of many world’s first innovative roaming product and services, international CDMA roaming in 2000, international roaming CLi in 2001 and LTE Roaming in 2011. Founder of Connexus Alliance and the first chairman of the Connexus Roaming Group. Founder of International IS-41 CDMA Roaming between Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and the CDMA Roaming Group CDG. Today’s Expert Panelists
- 6. 6 #VoLTELessons John Wick Senior Vice President and General Manager Mobile Transaction Services, Syniverse
- 7. 7 #VoLTELessons VoLTE Interconnect vs. VoLTE Roaming IPX MNO A MNO B VoLTE Interconnect IPX MNO A MNO B VoLTE Roaming MNO A Subscriber @ Home MNO B Subscriber @ Home MNO A Subscriber Roaming
- 8. 8 #VoLTELessons Challenges Lawful intercept/Emergency calling Lawful intercept – allows home network, but not at visited network location Emergency calling Voice Call Continuity (moving from VoLTE to CS) No service visibility for VPMN Distinguishing data traffic from VoLTE by APN and QCI only SMS not distinguishable from signaling Cannot retail bill based on TAP VoLTE Roaming Scenarios Home-Based Routing (S8HR) Advantages Faster to deploy than LBO – Uses same GTP tunnel as LTE Data Roaming traffic Utilizes the same components already in evolved packet core (VPMN does not require IMS Core) Can use same data IOT charges with roaming partners, no need to update roaming agreements for IMS services Uses existing TAP and RAEX with only minor changes IPX IPX E-UTRAN MME VPMN A-Party HPMN A-Party B-Party HSS P-CSCF S-CSCF TAS SGW DRA IBCF VoLTE Roaming Interconnect IMS IMS eXchange PCRF PGW
- 9. 9 #VoLTELessons VoLTE Roaming Scenarios Local Breakout Advantages Session awareness at the served network Visibility into the control and media plane of a call or video session taking place Gives ability to offer lawful intercept and emergency call handling Continuity of a voice call between LTE and CS Support for billing model - TAP for retail billing Challenges Complexity (flexibility and power, but more complex) IMS interoperability challenges with LBO – different vendors/different implementation Requires multiple feeds from many network elements for both VPMN and HPMN LBO for VoLTE with S8HR for data adds complexity New TAP record types (mobile session/messaging event) that are unused today IPX IPX xCSCF MME VPMN A-Party HPMN A-Party B-Party HSS P-CSCF S-CSCF TAS IBCF DRA IBCF VoLTE Roaming VoLTE Interconnect EPC IMS IMS IMS eXchange IMS eXchange PCRF IBCF
- 10. 10 #VoLTELessons First Transoceanic VoLTE Roaming • Collaboration with an American and Japanese operator to enable the world’s first transoceanic VoLTE roaming call based on an S8HR architecture Established VoLTE roaming between South Korea and Japan • LG Uplus subscribers from Korea roaming onto the KDDI network in Japan Launch of the world’s first commercial VoLTE roaming service • LG Uplus subscribers from Korea roaming onto the SmarTone network in Hong Kong Lessons Learned: VoLTE Roaming Trials and Implementation
- 11. 11 #VoLTELessons Connection setup and call quality are better than 3G Real time control of voice traffic - eliminates need for CAMEL, helps control fraud Handsets do not default to VoLTE for roaming Operators must work with handset vendors to modify defaults Assumed that the home operator would support lawful intercept Not valid in all cases due to regulations within countries Charging for VoLTE needs to be worked out by each operator Example: Some operators charge LTE data IOT rates for VoLTE. If operators prefer a different IOT they must distinguish VoLTE from LTE data using APNs/QCIs. Lessons Learned – S8HR
- 12. 12 #VoLTELessons Operators must understand how their roaming partner(s) supports S8HR How QCIs are configured Maximum bit rate for each QCI Number of APNs and which APNs are supported per QCI Video calls started during voice calls difficult to distinguish by VPMN Appears as another data flow so two separate TAP records are created HPMN needs to consider correlation of records for retail billing SMS is viewed as signaling If signaling is not charged between roaming partners SMS is no charge May open the door for messaging SPAM GSMA recommends charging for signaling to alleviate potential issues Lessons Learned – S8HR
- 13. 13 #VoLTELessons Case Study: Bilateral VoLTE Roaming Using S8HR George Lam, Senior Executive Sales Director Syniverse
- 14. 14 #VoLTELessons Bilateral VoLTE roaming between two Tier 1 LTE operators in Asia in 2015 Both have commercial domestic VoLTE service and commercial LTE roaming with each other One launched local VoLTE interconnect with another domestic operator Both chose S8HR over LBO Quicker deployment Minimum changes required to network UE and billing system Began with a trial using IMS lab and production IPX, followed by commercial service launch Prototype handsets supporting VoLTE roaming used for the trial Background
- 15. 15 #VoLTELessons Preparation For The Trial & Commercial Launch 1. Prepared IMS lab (All) 2. Connect to production firewall (HPMN) 3. Reroute test control plane (S6a) to lab (Syniverse) 4. Route user plane traffic to HPMN IMS lab (HPMN) 5. Prepare test SIMs and test UE to VPMN (HPMN) 6. Agree to test plan (All) 7. Upgrade to 3.12 to support QCI values in CTL2 (1 for S8HR VoLTE) (VPMN/HPMN) 8. Enhance billing system (HPMN) 9. Enhance MME (VPMN) 10. Support of APN = “IMS” (VPMN) 11. Clarify support of emergency call, Emergency PDN or CSFB in UE and VPMN (VPMN/HPMN) 12. Agree on VoLTE IOT (VPMN/HPMN)
- 16. 16 #VoLTELessons VoLTE Roaming Architectures – Based on Existing LTE Roaming IPX E-UTRAN MME Other local LTE operators HSS PCRF P-CSCF S-CSCF TAS SGW DRA PGW IBCF Roaming VoLTE Interconnect HPMNVPMN
- 17. 17 #VoLTELessons MME/SGW VoLTE Roaming Architectures – Using Lab IMS & Production IPX Firewall 2 BGW 2 SA_LNS_2SA_LNS_1 HPMN Lab IMS DRA in HK STP _DEA DRA in SG Roaming UE HPMN production NW VPMN RBA1 SA_RDNS RBA2 HSS PGW CSCF STP RBA1 RBA2 STP_RDNS IPX (Syniverse) Firewall 1 BGW 1
- 18. 18 #VoLTELessons Test Result: Key Findings Voice quality better than 3G Call setup time significantly faster than 3G
- 19. 19 #VoLTELessons General: Better voice quality for MOC and MTC for both calling and called party Ability to offer different pricing based on APN or QCI Appeals to roaming partners looking for better voice quality for their roamers Network: QoS for VoLTE or ViLTE cannot be guaranteed if VPMN does not support QCI=1 or 2 Key Issues Identified From The Trial
- 20. 20 #VoLTELessons User Equipment (UE): Handsets expect VPMN to support emergency PDN as the primary, otherwise CSFB should be used If VPMN does not have VoLTE agreement with HPMN, but network sends IMS voice over PS = 1, then UE will attempt to implement VoLTE roaming function Network MME needs to control VoLTE roaming function according to VoLTE agreement Key Issues Identified From The Trial
- 21. 21 #VoLTELessons Charging: Using APN = IMS or 3.12 CTL2 (QCI=1 for VoLTE, 2 for ViLTE) since 1 Nov 2015 Duration-based charging using TAP is not possible HPMN needs to use own IMS CDR for retail charging Lawful Intercept: VPMN SGW should support lawful intercept function Check VPMN regulatory requirement Key Issues Identified From The Trial
- 22. 22 #VoLTELessons Non-UE-detectable IMS Emergency call (e.g. 911, 999): Option 1: HPMN rejects with the indication to set up an emergency call instead Local emergency numbers per Mobile Country Code on HPMN P-CSCF may thus be needed Option 2: VPMN MME provides country-specific emergency number during LTE Attach procedures VPMN Short code, Premium numbers: Roaming user calls a geo-local number (e.g. short code, premium numbers). The IMS entities in HPMN may need to do number resolution to correctly route the call Key Issues Identified From The Trial
- 24. 24 #VoLTELessons Thank You! For more information, visit www.syniverse.com or follow us @Syniverse