*ntel CEO, Kamar Abass |
History was made in Lagos on Thursday, this week
when NatCom Development and Investment Limited (trading as ‘ntel’), the company
that acquired the core assets of NiTel/MTel (in liquidation) made its first
Voice over LTE (VoLTE) call.
The test VoLTE call was made at 3.30pm at ntel’s new
Tier III data centre located on Lagos Island.
VoLTE calls are enabled over a carrier’s high-speed data network instead
of on a voice network. Voice over LTE calls also connect faster upon dialling
and feature ultra-clear high-definition voice quality.
The VoLTE call was completed in partnership with
Original Equipment Manufacturers, LM Ericsson of Sweden and Sony Electronics of
Japan. This follows ntel’s first data call on 18 January, 2016 and its first
SIP voice call on 18 February, 2016.
ntel will now progress work with Nigeria’s other
mobile operators and international partners to perform cross-network VoLTE
calls. This will ensure that ntel’s customers can connect with each other as
easily as they can to both customers in Nigeria and to those elsewhere in the
world: a network now comprising more