A new study from ABI Research suggests Orange's recent investment in High Definition voice services is the beginning of a HD voice boom. Its Mobile HD Voice report says today's "virtually nonexistent" market will grow dramatically from 2013, with about 487 million mobile subscribers using HD-enabled handsets on compatible networks in 2015.
ABI principal analyst Fritz Jordan said "The upgrade to HD voice is not especially expensive. Newer 3G networks – those deployed since about 2005-2006 – can already use the new format and require only a software update and a changeover to HD handsets. That’s why HD voice, unlike most technologies, will first find traction in developing markets: Eastern Europe, Latin America, Middle East, and Africa. In North America and Western Europe, 3G infrastructure installed earlier in the decade must be changed to a new format."