Orange made voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) and voice-over-WiFi (VoWiFi) technology available to customers in Belgium late last week.
The telco said it is the first in the country to offer both, adding that it remains the only provider in Belgium to provide HD voice over 2G, 3G, 4G and WiFi.
According to Orange Belgium, the launch of VoWiFi will enable it to address the problem of indoor call coverage, which is a major cause of customer dissatisfaction. In addition, customers with a compatible device and VoWiFi enabled, a strong WiFi signal and a postpaid contract with Orange will be able to make calls over WiFi in public areas and on transportation.
Orange added that VoLTE offers customers “an extra way to make calls in high definition,” in addition to providing faster call set-up times.
“One of the main frustrations of consumers is the difficulty they sometimes encounter when trying to make a phone call in an environment with a poor connection,” said Cristina Zanchi, Chief Consumer Officer at Orange Belgium. “By making VoWiFi and VoLTE available on our network, they can enjoy their voice calls again,” she said, adding that the user’s smartphone will ensure that the best connection is used at any given time.
Initially, the two new technologies will only be available to customers with Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge devices, but the S8 and S9 models will follow “very soon,” Orange said.
Customers with an iPhone 5S or a more recent model will have access to VoWiFi, with VoLTE to be made available soon.
In addition, Orange said it is working with Huawei and other handset makers to activate both technologies in the near future.