Tech Telecom

Bharti Airtel is preparing for battle against Reliance Jio on VoLTE (Voice over LTE) front with a possible nationwide launch within this calendar year. The company has awarded a $60 million (402 crores) pan-India deal to Nokia to implement voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) calling technology.

“Airtel was piloting the technology in a few areas and after successful testing is now looking at a bigger launch by giving a pan-India contract for IMS (IP multimedia system) solution to Nokia,”

As reported earlier the telecom operator had earlier this year given a smaller contract for IMS solution to Nokia for trial of VoLTE technology in select circles, VoLTE technology enables an operator to offer both voice and data without switching between bands, with voice being just another application that rides on an LTE data network, a technology that newcomer Reliance Jio has adopted.

Airtel’s subscriber will be able to do VoLTE call, once it launches VoLTE, and in case VoLTE is not available, the calls would fall back to lower technologies, which are 2G and 3G. Currently, Bharti Airtel offers 4G services in 19 circles, except Assam, Uttar Pradesh West and Jammu and Kashmir telecom circles.

Other telecom operators like Vodafone, Idea are also planning to join the VoLTE bandwagon, having secured new 4G spectrum in the recently concluded auctions. As per reports Vodafone is already trialling VoLTE in the select area using Nokia’s IMS solution, while Idea Cellular is in advanced talks with both Ericsson and Nokia, and it is likely to award the deal in coming days.