Vodafone Czech Republic has launched a new Wi-Fi Calling service based on the WIT VoWiFi solution.
The service allows pre-paid and post-paid subscribers to make and receive calls on Wi-Fi using a downloadable App supported on all Android handsets. WIT’s VoWiFi solution allows operators to offer a best voice service to their customers in places with poor coverage, such as underground, basements or buildings with reinforced concrete structure, reducing costly solutions to improve in-building coverage.
This new solution will also enhance voice calls abroad, regardless of the roaming network to which the mobile is connected, charging the voice call as a national call. In line with VoLTE, voice calls over Wi-Fi are charged as voice minutes, and the data used for the voice call is not counted in the data plan tariff.
Vodafone Czech Republic Wi-Fi Calling launch is orchestrated with VoLTE launch and is immediately available in compatible handsets, initially targeting the consumer customer base and later Business customers through the Vodafone OneNet proposition.
Vodafone Czech Republic Wi-Fi Calling service is also available natively in high-end Samsung devices. The WIT VoWiFi App shares a connection with the native Wi-Fi calling devices through the operator’s ePDG platform and the IMS infrastructure. This approach would potentially allow extending the proposition to SIM-less devices like Tablets and Web browsers.
Petr Dvorak, Vice-President for End Customers at Vodafone, says “Vodafone is the first operator in the Czech Republic to offer the availability of voice services beyond cellular coverage on a massive scale. Wi-Fi calling allows you to connect to any telephone number in the same way as conventional calls from a mobile phone.”
Luis Silva, CEO of WIT Software, said “It has been a fantastic experience to work in this project with the team from Vodafone Czech Republic, and we hope to see other deployments in other Telecom Operators using WIT VoWiFi technology.”
