6.6 Conclusions

Voice telephony is an essential service for many mobile network users, and one that must be supported by 3rd generation networks. This chapter has shown how the initial 3GPP UMTS standards have taken an evolutionary approach to providing a voice service compatible with GSM to maximise the benefits of the new radio access technologies. It has then described how a more innovative approach to providing voice and multimedia integration with the Internet protocols is being developed for the Release 4 and Release 5 standards.