The 5G interactive calling capability enables the addition of real-time, remote interaction between people and things, through a regular mobile phone call. With this new 3GPP-based technology, the three companies said they believe that the communication service provider telephony service could be used for more than just basic voice.
Cayetano Carbajo, director for core, transport and service platforms, Telefónica, said, “We are constantly working on developing new 5G innovations and future communication services are a priority area for us in 5G. We are now co-developing and testing 5G interactive calling together with Ericsson and Samsung, among other partners. This could bring new capabilities to 5G voice calls in the future which will benefit our consumer and enterprise customers.”
Gwang-Hyun Gho, vice president and head of communication processor research and development, Samsung Electronics, explained, “We are excited to be a part of the initiative to develop new 5G voice capabilities using IMS data channels. We look forward to continue paving the way in 5G innovation to meet our customer’s highest standards by collaborating with industry partners.”
David Bjore, head of solution area communication services at Ericsson, added, “We have during the past years been working on bringing voice services to the 5G era, by building a new 5G 3GPP-standards-based technology enabler, IMS data channel, which could be used for many different types of real-time interactive voice services in the future. With this proof-of-concept together with Telefónica and Samsung, the next major milestone has been achieved by showcasing the technology and example use cases on 5G smartphones.”
The PoC included use cases that demonstrate how the service could function on future commercial 5G smartphones. This could lead to services including screen sharing, gaming and social collaboration being provided through a regular phone call.