OK now that I have got your attention…..a month or so ago we received a Twitter question from a reader over whether any Windows Phone handsets were confirmed on Telstra as supporting HD Voice. This advanced network and device feature delivers next-gen voice call quality and was launched by Telstra first in Australia last year. However since it’s announcement no public update to their list of HD Voice handsets had been published by Telstra, whereas Vodafone_AU had recently supplied a list. Following our readers request, we hit up the always awesome Telstra 24×7 social media team asking for them to get this list together for their customers. This week, they did!

Based on a tweet alert from Luis at the Telstra 24×7 team, Aussie Telstra customers now have their list of HD supported handsets on their NextG network. The Lumia 800 handset is the only Windows Phone device which makes the list!

Our recent experience of using the Lumia 800 on Telstra as our daily use device in combination with a Ford Mondeo BT connection has hands-down delivered the best call quality of any in-car phone in my 15+ years on the road! We have even received positive comments from others re: the sound quality.

Telstra 2011 Media Release:

“Mike Wright, Executive Director, Telstra Networks & Access Technologies said “The difference between a standard and HD call is the voice equivalent of comparing a VHS with a blue-ray disc, HD Voice calling sounds like you’re talking face to face, even if you are hundreds or thousands of kilometres apart.”

“Twenty years ago we couldn’t have dreamt mobile phones would become indispensable work and lifestyle tools. Handsets have improved dramatically over this time, but the quality of mobile phone calls hasn’t changed much since the 1990’s,” Mr Wright said. In addition to the clarity of the calls, the noise suppression features make your HD-compatible handset much more effective in noisy environments such as on the train, in crowded places or in heavy traffic.”

“We are delighted that we have rolled this new technology out across our entire Next G® mobile network footprint. This means that not only do Telstra mobile customers have  access to the largest and fastest national mobile network, they also have access to the latest voice technology across the largest HD enabled network coverage footprint in the world. Telstra is proud that we continue to provide leading edge services for our customers built upon our world leading, IP-based network that we have built-in conjunction with our vendor partner Ericsson,” said Mr Wright.” (link)

Video Demo of HD over regular call quality:

What is HD Voice?

• The first major advance in mobile voice quality in 20 years, HD Voice delivers crystal clear voice quality  and suppresses background noise on calls made between compatible phones on the Next G® mobile network.
• Customers calling between HD-compatible phones can access the higher quality calls at no extra cost.
• HD Voice uses the WB-AMR (Wideband Adaptive Multi-Rate) speech codec where as the existing network uses NB-AMR (Narrowband AMR or commonly called AMR).
• WB-AMR uses the same network capacity to double the voice bandwidth (50 – 7000 Hz) compared to traditional mobile and fixed network calls which have only ever carried the lower range of voice frequencies (300 – 3400  Hz) (source: Telstra)

At least Windows Phone Down Under has at least one offering in the HD Voice camp on Telstra! Whether the Lumia 900 is supported on Telstra with HD Voice is a question we have asked…although with the device not being ranged by them, we may not get an answer on that one. Now we just need Visual Voice Mail (available with Windows Phone since Mango 7.5′s launch in Q3 2011) and video streaming services (AFL, Foxtel etc) - both not supported by any Australia carrier as yet – for Telco feature parity!

Thanks again Luis for the fantastic job following this through and delivering!

Sheeds.