Reliance Jio on Wednesday launched its anticipated Wi-Fi calling service to bring voice and video calls over a Wi-Fi network. The announcement came after testing it over the past few months. The service that started on January 7, however, will be rolled out in a phased manner until January 16.
A woman checks her mobile phone as she walks past a mobile store of Reliance Industries’ Jio telecoms unit, in Mumbai, India, July 11, 2017. REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade – RC1E582C9B50
Jio Wi-Fi Calling Service Launched
The Mumbai-based telecom company claims that the Jio Wi-Fi calling service is supported by over 150 handset models unlike the Wi-Fi calling service provided by Airtel that was limited to some major models offered by companies such as Apple, OnePlus, Samsung, and Xiaomi. Also, Airtel has announced that its Wi-Fi calling feature works only with Wi-Fi powered by Airtel broadband while Jio is supporting Wi-Fi calling through all Wi-Fi networks.
Users who have an active Jio tariff plan can leverage the Wi-Fi calling service to make voice calls using a Wi-Fi network even when they aren’t connected to a mobile network. In addition to making voice calls over a Wi-Fi network, Jio users can make video calls using the new service. The service is also available at no additional cost, which means users don’t need to pay an additional amount to avail of its benefits on their devices.
The new service is useful if you’re in a remote area or at a cellular-dark zone of a building where cellular networks aren’t available. Jio claims that voice and video calls will seamlessly switch over between VoLTE and Wi-Fi networks. This means that users won’t face any delay while their devices switch to a Wi-Fi network to support ongoing calls.
You need to enable the Wi-Fi calling aka voice-over-Wi-Fi (VoWi-Fi) on your device to avail the new service. Also, while Jio claims to offer the service across over 150 handset models, it isn’t available for all mobile phones. You can check the compatibility of your device by visiting the dedicated Jio Wi-Fi calling webpage.
Commenting on the new feature for Jio users, Akash Ambani, Director at Jio, said that at this juncture, when an average Jio consumer uses over 900 minutes of voice calls every month, and at a growing base of consumers, the launch of Jio Wi-Fi Calling will further enhance every Jio consumer’s voice-calling experience.
Also, Airtel last month launched its Wi-Fi calling service for its customers in Delhi NCR. It also expanded the availability of the service to metropolitan cities such as Kolkata and Mumbai and broaden its presence to a list of handsets.
On the other hand, Jio is aiming to take on Airtel by announcing the pan-India rollout of its Wi-Fi calling service. Given the growing number of network issues in major cities across the country, Wi-Fi calling comes as a relief to some extent. Users, however, need to connect to a Wi-Fi network to avail the benefits of the new development.
