You may hear a lot more about HD voice and the CAT-iq standard in the next two weeks as cable companies start talking up new voice services at their annual conference  in Chicago this year. CAT-iq 2.0 – the most recent version – delivers HD voice, but later versions are evolve from telephony-based applications into entertainment and home monitoring.

CAT-iq takes the DECT wireless standard and layers a set of standards and software applications on top of it; it also adds a 64 kbps data channel to run wideband voice; DECT uses 32 kbps to transmit voice . CAT-iq 1.0 supports HD voice via G.722 over a DECT interface. It provides a simple implementation of a standardized cordless phone for wideband voice – nice, but not earth-shattering “I have to dump my home phone now.”

It's CAT-iq 2.0 which is bringing sizzle to the table, adding additional functionality and features to the basic single HD voice session.   CAT-iq 2.0 adds support for multiple lines, easy pairing between handsets and gateway/base station, and standardized phonebook synchronization and management.  

Currently, three manufacturers have all of three products officially certified by the DECT Forum for CAT-iq 2.0 compliance. Gigaset, Samsung, and VTech have each certified a phone, but other manufacturers are in the pipeline since France Telecom (News - Alert) and CableLabs have blessed and are promoting CAT-iq for wideband voice and wider interoperability.   Deutsche Telekom will be migrating its home gateways to CAT-iq beginning this summer, according to DECT silicon manufacturer Lantiq.

CableLabs has already conducted one CAT-iq Interop (News - Alert) event and will likely be demonstrating wideband voice hardware and services during The Cable Show. However, cable operators would really like to see CAT-iq 2.1, which includes support for SMS text messaging, plus bells and whistles for low-power “green” features.

Even if there aren't any active demos on the show floor – nobody's confirmed anything yet – HD voice is on the roadmap for cable providers with formalized standards through CableLabs (News - Alert). Comcast executives have often been quoted mentioning HD voice in public forms, but none get into timetables for deployment. Still, at least two CPE manufacturers have been told by Comcast (News - Alert) that supporting CAT-iq would be a good and necessary thing.

CAT-iq also provides a data evolution path for home to broadband (H2B) applications, such as smart grid and home monitoring, plus a demonstrated ability to provide links between entertainment devices in the home for applications such as wireless high-quality headsets for stereo and TV viewing.   Unlike Wi-FI, CAT-iq could provide a simplified, secure, and more reliable wireless LAN for applications to leverage.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.