Mobile network operator Lebara, which harnesses Vodafone’s Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) platform, has begun contacting their existing customers to inform them that they’ve finally started rolling out two popular service features – Wi-Fi Calling and 4G Calling (VoLTE).
The 4G Calling service is just a marketing term for Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) technology, which simply means that any calls you make or receive will stay on the 4G network rather than dropping back to 3G or 2G. Meanwhile, WiFi Calling enables consumers with a supported Smartphone to harness their home broadband ISP or other WiFi connection to make mobile voice calls, instead of using your mobile network.
Until now, it wasn’t clear when Lebara would start to introduce the new features, but that just changed. In a brief email to customers this week, the operator said: “We are very pleased to share that WiFi Calling and 4G Calling (VoLTE) is now available on the Lebara network. We are rolling out the service in phases and you are one of our first customers to be able to use this feature” (credits to one of our readers, Gareth, for sharing the email).
At the time of writing, it’s not clear how long this rollout will take to complete, but we should point out that new customers who have just activated their SIM may need to wait up to 7 days for both features to become available (the operator will usually notify you).