Vi Expands the WI-FI Calling Service to iPhones in India

Last Updated on May 5, 2021 by Akanksha Singh

Vi (Vodafone Idea) already offers Wi-Fi calling service in India. However, the Wi-Fi calling feature wasn’t available for iPhones on the Vi network. That, fortunately, changes today. Vi has announced that it has now expanded its Wi-Fi calling service to iPhones as well.

According to Vi’s official website, the Wi-Fi calling feature for iPhones is currently available in Maharashtra, Goa, Kolkata, Gujarat, Delhi, and Mumbai. Hopefully, the service will roll out soon in other regions as well. It is also worth mentioning that your iPhone needs to be running on 14.5 firmware for this feature to work. iOS 14.5 was rolled out last week. You can read more about it here.

So, if your iPhone is on the Vi network and you stay in one of the areas mentioned above, you should be able to use Wi-Fi calling on your smartphone. Along with Vi, other major telecom operators such as Airtel and Jio offer Wi-Fi calling as well. In fact, Vi came in last in the race to offer the Wi-Fi calling feature.

Benefits of Wi-Fi calling

Wi-Fi calling, as the name suggests, uses the Wi-Fi network connected to your smartphone to make calls. This feature comes in handy in indoor environments where you have a Wi-Fi network available but the cellular network is weak. Moreover, Wi-Fi calling can offer you better voice quality since the Wi-Fi network usually has a higher data speed compared to the cellular network. Although Wi-Fi calling should be enabled on your iPhone by default, you can switch it on manually by going into Settings > Phone > and enabling Wi-Fi calling in case it was turned off.

Vi, Airtel, Jio, MTNL to start 5G trials soon

In related news, the Department of Telecom (DoT), on Tuesday, approved the applications from Reliance Jio, Airtel, Vi, and MTNL for conducting 5G trials. However, the government authority has directed the telecom companies not to use the Chinese tech for trials.