Optus HD Voice Upgrades Call Quality on 3G Network

Optus has gone ahead and activated “HD Voice” over its 3G network. This means better voice quality and reduced background noise on calls, so long as they’re made Optus-to-Optus and on a compatible device.

If you’re an Optus customer, you don’t need to do or activate anything to start enjoying the benefits; it should just work.

The list of compatible devices is extensive, and all new 3G and 4G devices sold are supported, so the chances are you’re in luck.

Compatible devices:

Optus is actually the third of Australia’s three largest telcos to do this. Telstra launched its 3G HD Voice network in 2012 and Vodafone followed suit in 2013. But hey, better late than never, right?

This is not VoLTE

Voice over LTE (VoLTE) is a new HD Voice technology that has been picking up press more recently. Like 3G HD Voice, it offers superior call quality and reduced background noise. Having the huge speed of a 4G network to utilise, it can go to much further lengths, delivering the kind of calls 3G HD Voice can only dream of.

In short, this move by Optus is a good one for its customers (and it’s free), but it’s not ground-breaking and we can expect to see it supplanted by newer technologies in the coming years.

Alex Angove-Plumb

Digital Content Editor

Alex Angove-Plumb is a Digital Content Editor at WhistleOut and an award-winning journalist. He's been in the tech publishing industry since 2010, putting him a few short years away from the title of Grizzled Ancient in his chosen profession. He was an original WhistleOut-er before running NBN Co's corporate blog for two years, then moving on to a lengthy stint at CHOICE. Now he's come home.

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