Pretty soon, Reliance Jio won’t be the only telecom operator offering 4G VoLTE (Voice over LTE) in the country.
According to reports, Airtel and Vodafone are close to rolling out their own 4G VoLTE services.
As affordable 4G feature phones are set to hit the market this year, telcos are gearing up with the right network artillery to fend off Jio’s monopoly in the 4G VoLTE arena, the report said.
By adopting 4G VoLTE technology, Airtel and Vodafone are likely to offer free voice call services, and charge consumers for data internet.
This has been Jio’s biggest advantage, while the incumbents have failed to tap into the segment. But looks like that’s going to change, which is good news for consumers.
Reliance Jio and Google are said to be working on an affordable series of 4G VoLTE phones for the Indian market, which could be announced in the coming months.
Qualcomm has also come out with 210 SoC processors that will specifically cater to 4G feature phones.
In the coming months, telcos along with phone makers are likely lure customers with affordable devices bundled with cheap internet.
Google’s interest in the entry-level phone segment is well known, especially with the launch of Android One.
Talking about India’s tremendous smartphone potential, Google CEO Sundar Pichai Pichai said that he hopes cheaper smartphones will soon be a reality.
(Source: ET Telecom)
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