BSNL customers can now download an app called ‘Wings’ which is developed by the company itself, to be able to make calls to any phone number across the country, irrespective of the receiver’s network provider. “In present competitive environment, increase in market share by BSNL is laudable. I congratulate BSNL management for internet telephony which will enable consumers to make calls without SIM,” said Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha after inaugurating the service. Even if you are on a different mobile network other than BSNL, you can use a BSNL Wi-Fi network in order to place calls using the Wings app. The service provider will be required to comply with all the interception and monitoring related requirements, and all calls will be charged by telecom operators, while all rules related to normal calls will also be applicable to calls made through VoWiFi using the app. If you are an existing BSNL user, the registration for this service starts this week and the roll out will take place starting from July 25 onwards. Now that BSNL has rolled out the VoWiFi service, other network providers like Airtel and Reliance Jio will soon follow suit. In fact, in the recently held AGM of Reliance Jio, VoWiFi did get a mention as part of the JioPhone 2 specs as a service that Jio is looking to roll out sometime soon. Since VoWiFi, as the name suggests works on a Wi-Fi network and does not require any additional hardware, it is safe to say that it will be supported on most current smartphones.
