AT&T plans to begin deploying HD Voice later this year

AT&T said earlier this morning that it plans to start deploying HD Voice's improved voice calling to its wireless subscribers later in 2013. Promoted by almost all the wireless carriers in the U.S, the new feature uses hardware and software components on both the smartphone and on the network to significantly enhance voice clarity while reducing background noise. The feature devotes more frequency to handle the amount of audio coming in and automatically kicks in when both mobile handsets support it.

Speaking at the Venture Beat Mobile Summit in Sausalito, senior vice president Kris Rinne said that AT&T's support for the technology would begin later this year as it begins routing voice calls over its LTE network.

"HD Voice is part of our audio over LTE strategy," she said. The revelation confirmed a PC Mag report in January that AT&T was aiming for a potential launch sometime in 2013.

Widely available in Europe for many years already, wireless carriers in the U.S. have lagged badly behind, but now AT&T wants to change that.

The wireless carrier's announcement comes almost four months after T-Mobile USA unveiled its iPhone 5, which it touted as supporting HD Voice.

For its part, Verizon Wireless revealed earlier this year that its subscribers might have to wait until 2014 for HD Voice. The company plans to deploy the technology when it moves its voice services to its LTE network, which it plans to do by the end of the year or early 2014.