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Network benchmarking provider Ookla (Accenture), which collects data from consumers via their broadband and mobile Speedtest.net service, has published an interesting examination of the performance differences between voice calls handled by the 4G centric Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) and 5G based Voice-over-New-Radio (VoNR) technologies.
According to the study, VoLTE remains the gold standard for consistency and speed in mature deployments. For example, South Korean operators in Seoul lead with a 1.06-second median call setup time on VoLTE, faster than any studied VoNR deployment globally, with over 90% of calls meeting a two-second setup target. “This reflects years of refinement in IMS core and radio parameters,” said Ookla.
Granted, the figures in this study for call setup times don’t seem particularly remarkable. But Ookla points out that, psychologically, a setup delay under 2 seconds feels instant, while any delays that exceed 4 to 5 seconds can trigger user anxiety and uncertainty about whether the call has failed.