Airtel VoLTE Now Live Across India Except J&K, Supports 198 Smartphones

[Vikas Jadhav]

Indian global telecommunications services company Bharti Airtel has rolled out VoLTE technology across all markets in India services except Jammu and Kashmir.

According to Mr Gopal Vittal, Managing Director & CEO (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel, the company will launch VoLTE services later this year in Jammu & Kashmir. With this, Bharti Airtel will be the only second company after Reliance Jio to roll out 4G VoLTE services across India.

Airtel VoLTE Across PAN India by the 2018 Year End:

As per the latest reports, Bharti Airtel is conducting trials in 5 cities in Jammu & Kashmir and hope to make the VoLTE services live there by the year-end.

Currently, the Reliance Jio is the only telecom network to provide VoLTE services across India. In fact, the company has launched the telecom services only through LTE. Next, to Reliance Jio, Airtel has got 4G services in 21 telecom circles.

Starting September 2017, Bharti Airtel has launched VoLTE services. However, after August 2018, the company expanded its VoLTE services at a faster rate. During August Airtel VoLTE was just limited to 12 telecom circles but now it has gone up to 21 telecom circles.

On the other hand, the leading telecom operator Vodafone India has VoLTE in 18 telecom circles while its partner Idea Cellular has VoLTE presence in 20 telecom circles leaving Kolkata and New Delhi telecom circles.

The state-run telecom company BSNL is yet to start its 4G coverage. Though parts of Kerala, Nagpur and Andhra Pradesh new capital city have got BSNL 4G, it is yet to start full-fledged operations.

Why VoLTE? What are the Benefits of VoLTE?

By launching VoLTE services, the telecom operators will be able to offer HD voice calls, instant call connection and efficient multitasking without interruption of 4G internet sessions.

For all this to happen, the user should possess VoLTE enabled handset. Bharti Airtel has got an exclusive service to check whether your mobile number has Airtel VoLTE or not.

All the higher-end handsets have inbuilt VoLTE feature. However, the Airtel VoLTE compatibility is rolled out in a phased manner. Currently, more than 198 smartphones have Airtel VoLTE support. You can check whether the handset has Airtel VoLTE or not by visiting the Airtel website.

The popular handsets that has got Airtel VoLTE compatibility include Apple iPhone Xs, iPhone X, iPhone Xs Max, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, Samsung Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy S9, OnePlus 6, OnePlus 6T, Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro, Mi A2, Xiaomi POCO F1, Gionee A1, Honor 8X, etc. Surprisingly, Google has not yet added Airtel VoLTE support to its flagship Pixel handsets.

Also Read: Airtel Adds Another 1.4GB Daily Data Plan with 75 Days Validity at ₹419