Reliance licenses SPIRIT mobile video engine

RUSSIA: SPIRIT DSP announced that Indian telecom operator Infotel, a subsidiary of Reliance Group, one of India’s top three private sector business houses with annual turnover  of more than $60 billion, has licensed TeamSpirit Voice&Video Engine Mobile.

Reliance intends to invest $10 billion in its LTE network and has turned to SPIRIT's software products for voice and video calls over LTE instead of waiting for phone makers who are slow in offering handsets transmitting voice and video in 4G networks.

The lack of mobile devices supporting VoLTE (Voice-over-LTE) drives a growing number of carriers to implement a software-only product, which is more flexible, scalable and offers a quicker time to market. SPIRIT engines plays a key role in providing HD voice and video quality as a part of IMS/RCS service infrastructure on popular Android and iOS smartphones and tablet PCs, as well as PCs with Mac OS or Windows.

By using SPIRIT engines, Reliance will be able to offer its subscribers high-quality services as an alternative to Skype over cellular networks and attract new high-value subscribers that used services from other operators and commercial OTT service providers.

"While the number of LTE networks is growing, the quantity of mobile devices models supporting VoLTE is extremely small. LTE phones and tablets mainly support only data transmission over an LTE modem, while voice and video are going via 2G/3G network. It’s an akward situation for mobile operators who had hoped that phone OEMs would flood the market with 4G LTE-ready phones," said SPIRIT’s VP Alex Kravchenko.

"Carriers in dozens of countries now plan to or already deploy VVoIP services under their own brands in an effort to stop subscribers from switching to OTT providers, such as Skype, Viber and WhatsApp. The TeamSpirit software engines enable the transmission of voice and video packets via LTE modems and help operators use mobile devices available in today's market. Reliance’s decision to follow the growing trend is a good example of carriers' flexibility to create their own competitive services faster. It’s The Fastest who wins in today highly competitive technology world, not The Biggest one."