Vodafone trials AI-enabled voice services with Ericsson

• Vodafone has undertaken two key AI-enabled voice service trials with vendor partner Ericsson
• The instant language translation service enables live conversations between people speaking different languages
• The noise cancellation service automatically identifies and removes background noise to significantly improve call quality

In the latest example of a telco developing new revenue-generating, AI-enabled, network system-based applications, Vodafone Group and vendor partner Ericsson have successfully demonstrated two new customer-centric voice services on a test mobile network. 

The first enables instant language translation during standard voice calls, without customers requiring an app or modified smartphone. Vodafone noted that engineers from the partner companies “were able to instantly translate conversations between people speaking in English, Spanish, Italian, French and German,” and that the service could “be easily expanded to support additional languages.”

The second is real-time noise cancellation, a service that “intelligently identifies and removes background noise in real time, ensuring call clarity for users in loud environments like busy streets, public transport or construction sites”. 

Marco Zangani, Vodafone’s director of network strategy and architecture, noted: “AI is giving the mobile network back its voice. More than 50 years after the first mobile call, innovation is accelerating and shifting back into the network. Over the past few years, we have built the infrastructure, data capabilities and safeguards needed to unlock AI for our customers to converse more clearly.” 

Ericsson noted in this announcement that “the achievement is a key milestone from the companies’ joint ‘Core Network of the Future’ programme, an initiative designed to explore how advanced AI capabilities can be embedded directly into a communications service provider’s network, turning it into an intelligent platform for innovation.” 

The services were achieved by integrating Vodafone-developed application server and AI engines with Ericsson’s IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) “using APIs to seamlessly bridge telecom and AI domains. This architecture allows the network to apply AI-driven intelligence to voice calls as they are processed,” noted the Swedish vendor, adding that “by moving intelligence from the device to the network, operators can accelerate innovation, ensure quality of service, and deliver new value to both consumers and enterprises.” 

Vodafone is not alone in developing such capabilities. 

Earlier this year, T-Mobile US unveiled Live Translation, a “first-of-its-kind network-integrated service that enables real-time translation during phone calls in over 50 languages”, no matter what smartphone is being used. 

That beta service was cited by Mavenir’s chief technology and strategy officer, Bejoy Pankajakshan, during this session at the recent AI-Native Telco Forum as an example of a revenue-generating AI service developed by a mobile operator. 

According to one of the key takeaways from TelecomTV’s recently published AI-Native Telco Index report, the majority of telecom operators are no longer focusing their AI strategies on efficiency gains but are instead now prioritising the development of potential new revenue streams – see New report highlights telco focus on AI-native revenue opportunities.

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV