Verizon Closer to Letting Users Chat, Web Surf Simultaneously on 4G Network

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Verizon made the first successful VoLTE (Voice Over LTE) commercial call in the world yesterday morning, the system that is one of the candidate 4G networks. The mobile communication standard will allow people to surf the web and use other phone functionalities while talking on the phone. Though the first call – made in Basking Ridge, New Jersey – only lasted 33 seconds, subsequent calls had a duration of up to 10 minutes. The test subjects surfed the web, download Android apps and participated in chats while asking, “Can you hear me now?”

“Today is another proof point that the LTE ecosystem is alive, healthy and thriving,” Verizon Chief Technology Officer Tony Melone said in the press release. “VoLTE will quickly become the global standard for delivering voice over LTE networks.”

Right now,  AT&T’s HSPA version of the iPhone can surf the web and place phone calls, while the Verizon CDMA version cannot. There’s no news when Verizon will offer the 4G LTE iPhone, but the company said they hope to roll out the service in 2012, according to RCR Wireless. The first call was made on an LG Revolution 4G phone.

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