Operators of the Republic of Uzbekistan have launched projects to introduce VoLTE technology on their communication networks for commercial use. They have also begun offering subscribers the VoWifi service.
At the
ITU Forum “Future networks” held in Tashkent in May 2023, participants raised the issue of interest in providing end-to-end VoLTE calls between different operators to maintain high-definition (HD) voice quality end-to-end.
This task is a complex procedure requiring a solution in the area of URI/E.164 (ENUM) transformation and the type of interface used for interworking. The developed ITU-T Recommendations defining interworking can become the basis for solving this task.
To implement this functionality, it is necessary to ensure inter-network interaction (interconnect) via IP protocols both between national operators and with operators outside the Republic of Uzbekistan in order to ensure the exchange of VoLTE/VoWifi service traffic.
Therefore, within the framework of the
ICT Week of Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Digital Technologies of the Republic of Uzbekistan together with the ITU Regional Office for CIS held a round table with the participation of more than 20 specialists representing the Communications Administration, regulatory authorities, operators UZmobile, Beeline, Ucell, Mobiuz and other companies in the ICT industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Deputy Minister of Digital Technologies of the Republic of Uzbekistan Makhsudov Jamol Tilloevich and ITU Regional Director for the CIS region Natalia Mochu delivered a opening remark.
The following issues were discussed during the round table:
- technological features of VoLTE interconnect;
- experience of other countries in launching VoLTE interconnect;
- current state of deployment of VoLTE service in Uzbekistan;
- current regulatory barriers for VoLTE interconnect and methods for their elimination;
- possibility of conducting a VoLTE interconnect project in Uzbekistan.
The operators shared the status of the operation of VoLTE services and the introduction of a new service to the VoWiFi market. All these services use IMS solutions and currently the interconnection between the operators is not configured. The operators understand the need to switch to IMS interconnection as an evolutionary development of modern communication networks and are conducting an internal assessment of this task. The meeting also discussed roaming models in VoLTE based on S8 Home Routing (S8HR) and Local Breakout (LBO).
