Bharti Airtel is actively expanding its Wi-Fi Calling service to more circles. At the end of December, Airtel said the Wi-Fi Calling or VoWi-Fi service is available in six circles, and now, the service has been expanded to 10 circles. Airtel Wi-Fi Calling is now available in Gujarat, UP (West), Kerala and Maharashtra circles as well. These are the new circles where Airtel launched the Wi-Fi Calling service. Earlier, the service was available in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu circles. Alongside the service expansion, the compatible smartphone list also grew. New Xiaomi phones like the Redmi 7A, Redmi Note 7 Pro and the Redmi Y3 now supports Airtel Wi-Fi Calling. Some new Samsung models also gained the support for Airtel Wi-Fi Calling.
Airtel Wi-Fi Calling Now Available in 10 Circles
Bharti Airtel managed to beat Reliance Jio by launching VoWi-Fi service ahead of the Mukesh Ambani-owned telco. While Jio has launched its VoWi-Fi service in just three circles, Airtel Wi-Fi Calling is available in ten circles now. The circles in question are Delhi NCR, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, UP(West), Maharashtra, Mumbai and Kolkata. On the flip side, Reliance Jio is offering VoWi-Fi service in Kerala, Maharashtra and Kolkata circles only. The company is testing the service in other circles as well like Delhi, Mumbai, among others.
Bharti Airtel says the Wi-Fi Calling service works only with Airtel Broadband. However, we have noticed the service available on other broadband operators like ACT Fibernet, Spectra and more. Even the service is working with local Internet Service Providers (ISP). Airtel website still notes that the service will be available to the users with Airtel Broadband, so an official confirmation regarding the service availability on other ISPs is awaited. Jio's VoWi-Fi service works with any broadband operator, which is a good thing.
Airtel Wi-Fi Calling Now Compatible With More Smartphones
Besides expanding the service to four more circles, Bharti Airtel also listed new smartphones which are now compatible with Airtel Wi-Fi Calling. The new entrants to the list are Xiaomi Redmi Y3, Redmi 7A and the popular Redmi Note 7 Pro. We recently reported the availability of VoWi-Fi service on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro as well after MIUI 11 update. There are a few Samsung smartphones as well which have been added to the list of compatible phones.
Overall, Airtel Wi-Fi Calling now supports on 40 smartphones from four brands- Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi and OnePlus. The smartphone compatibility list will only grow in the coming days. We also got to know that Realme is also in the works with telecom operators to add VoWi-Fi support.
Bharti Airtel is aggressively expanding the Airtel Wi-Fi Calling to more circles with every passing week. Reliance Jio, which was the expected telco to launch VoWi-Fi service ahead of others, has stayed away from an official launch as well. Vodafone Idea may not launch the VoWi-Fi service anytime soon as the telco is currently in the process of integrating the network of Vodafone and Idea Cellular. Besides the ten circles mentioned above, Airtel customers with a compatible handset might be able to spot Wi-Fi Calling service on their smartphone because the telco is carrying out advanced testing in various circles.
