Mavenir and communications platform provider BICS are packaging software designed to support voice over LTE (VoLTE) services for operators working through the shutting down of their legacy 2G and 3G networks.

The system taps Mavenir’s cloud-native IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) network software and BICS history in supporting mobile roaming capabilities. This is accomplished using the VoLTE standard.

VoLTE is a technology standard that runs voice traffic over a 4G LTE data network. It has been used for a decade by operators and allowed them to move legacy voice traffic off of their 2G networks. Mavenir and BICS highlighted their joint offering as supporting roaming services that could be compromised by different operator timelines when it comes to shutting down their 2G and 3G networks.

“As mobile technology continues to evolve, safeguarding roaming between networks is crucial,” Mikael Schachne, VP of telco market at BICS, said in a statement. “With this partnership, we are ensuring operators around the world continue to provide excellent customer experience for their roamers, while leveraging our extensive reach and expertise to monetize potential opportunities.”

The focus on VoLTE comes as advanced operators have started to roll out their 5G-based voice solutions.

T-Mobile US, for instance, recently expanded the reach of its voice over new radio (VoNR) service to a handful of new markets in the United States.

That service routes voice traffic over the carrier’s 5G standalone (SA) network, which will eventually allow T-Mobile US to turn off its current 4G LTE network that handles the vast majority of its voice traffic once it can migrate all of its end-users to voice devices compatible with the VoNR service. This will in turn allow T-Mobile US to re-farm the spectrum supporting that network to its 5G – or 6G – network.

The Mavenir and BICS launch move motives are somewhat similar to Samsung Networks’ unveiling last year of a virtualized radio access network (vRAN) architecture for 2G-based GSM services. This platform allows operators to replace their hardware-based 2G networks with software, streamlining cell site infrastructure and ongoing operational costs.

The software path also simplifies the migration of those 2G connections to a carrier’s 5G connection without having to risk losing customers to a hardware-based switch in services.

Most 2G networks run on lower-band spectrum holdings that have superior propagation characteristics to more recently launched 5G networks. Operators are in the process of migrating customers from those legacy networks so they can use those lower frequency bands to widen the reach of their 5G networks, but that process will take time.

Ongoing 2G network support varies by region. In the United States, most operators have either already shuttered those legacy networks or have upcoming hard deadlines.