In particular, voice over LTE (VoLTE) calling is often touted by carriers as offering increased reliability and better sound quality.

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The carrier says it will commercially launch the service, known as Voice over LTE or VoLTE, in 2012, in part to improve call quality for its customers.

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Replacing traditional voice service with voice over LTE will take time, as complex kinks are worked out, network equipment is installed and, eventually, phones are made with the necessary hardware.

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The service is known in the industry as voice-over-LTE or VoLTE.

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"HD Voice is part of our voice-over-LTE strategy, " said Rinne, speaking at the VentureBeat Mobile Summit in Sausalito, California, speaking of the next generation of cellular phone networks.

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Applications, for instance, could be utilized to deliver calls on LTE, much the way Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) apps like fring and Jajah operate on 3G networks today.

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Cricket offers nationwide wireless voice and mobile data services over high-quality, all-digital 4G LTE and 3G CDMA wireless networks.

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