T-Mobile Advances Standalone 5G Capabilities with Commercial Launch of Voice Over 5G

America’s most advanced 5G network just got most advanced-er. T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) announced today that commercial Voice Over 5G (VoNR) service is live for customers in limited areas of Portland, Ore. and Salt Lake City, achieving another technology milestone with its industry-leading nationwide Standalone (SA) 5G network, which no other operator in the country has. With VoNR, the Un-carrier can keep devices always connected to 5G and enable future transformative applications that require a seamless 5G connection. The Un-carrier plans to continue its VoNR rollout to many additional areas this year.

“We don’t just have the leading 5G network in the country. T-Mobile is setting the pace for providers around the globe as we push the industry forward – now starting to roll out another critical service over 5G,” said Neville Ray, President of Technology at T-Mobile. “5G is already driving new levels of engagement, transforming how our customers use their smartphones and bringing unprecedented connectivity to areas that desperately need it. And it’s just going to get better thanks to the incredible T-Mobile team and our partners who are tirelessly innovating and advancing the capabilities of 5G every day.”

Standalone 5G removes the need for an underlying 4G LTE network and 4G core, so 5G can reach its true potential. In other words, it’s “pure 5G”, and T-Mobile was the first in the world to deliver it nationwide nearly two years ago.

The addition of VoNR takes T-Mobile’s standalone 5G network to the next level by enabling it to carry voice calls, keeping customers seamlessly connected to 5G. In the near-term, customers connected to VoNR will notice slightly faster call set-up times, meaning less delay between the time they dial a number and when the phone starts ringing. But VoNR is not just about a better calling experience. Most importantly, VoNR brings T-Mobile one step closer to truly unleashing its standalone 5G network because it enables advanced capabilities like network slicing that rely on a continuous connection to a 5G core.

“VoNR represents the next step in the 5G maturity journey—an application that exists and operates in a complete end-to-end 5G environment,” said Jason Leigh, research manager, 5G & Mobility at IDC. “Migrating to VoNR will be a key factor in developing new immersive app experiences that need to tap into the full bandwidth, latency and density benefits offered by a 5G standalone network.”