As was expected, Verizon Wireless is at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain -- highlighting their shift from dedicated circuit-switched technology to the voice over LTE (VoLTE) data protocol. The shift is expected to begin in 2012, with Verizon noting the primary benefit will be the delivery of higher quality voice, something they're expected to demo today. Verizon's also busy highlighting this week that Verizon users will soon finally be able to browse the Internet and talk on the phone simultaneously. Competitors have made a big deal about this shortcoming in marketing, though the jury is out about just how big of a deal this really is for most consumers.

Verizon is telling conference attendees in Spain that initially, consumers will have the choice of making either a a standard 3G phone call or a 4G VoLTE call -- because the latter won't be able to hand off to the former. Once Verizon's network is fully LTE (expected by the end of 2013), all voice calls will be VoLTE and Verizon will eventually re-purpose the spectrum from their older CDMA/EVDO network.

This Ericsson press release and this VoLTE white paper have additional technical detail for those interested. The latter of those two specifically explores the various fixes carriers have to implement as they juggle traditional voice, VoLTE, data and SMS transmissions over LTE networks that for the next few years will remain only partially built.

It's of course far too early to discern how the natural evolution of voice to full data will impact your caps or monthly bill. It's expected that Verizon will be again shifting with their LTE data pricing once the first LTE smartphones appear later this year.