Voice over Wi-Fi Now Available Across All BSNL Circles
New Delhi: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has rolled out Voice over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi) services across all telecom circles in the country, making the facility available nationwide to its customers from the beginning of 2026. The service, also known as Wi-Fi Calling, enables users to make and receive voice calls and messages over a Wi-Fi network, ensuring connectivity in locations where mobile signals are weak or inconsistent, including indoor spaces, offices, basements and remote areas.
The service is based on IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) architecture and supports seamless handover between Wi-Fi and cellular networks, allowing calls to continue uninterrupted as users move between different coverage environments. Calls are routed through the subscriber’s existing mobile number and handset dialer, without requiring third-party applications or alternate calling platforms.
While Wi-Fi calling has been available in India for several years through private telecom operators, BSNL’s launch stands out for its simultaneous nationwide activation across all operational circles. Unlike earlier deployments that expanded gradually across selected markets, BSNL’s rollout extends the service to rural and remote regions alongside urban centres. This approach mirrors the structure of BSNL’s network footprint, which integrates mobile services with extensive fixed broadband infrastructure, including Bharat Fibre connections.
In policy terms, the nationwide availability of VoWiFi closely aligns with the objectives of the BharatNet programme, under which optical fibre connectivity has been extended to a large number of gram panchayats. By enabling voice services to operate over broadband networks, VoWiFi allows publicly funded fibre assets to support core telecom services beyond data alone. In areas where mobile signal quality remains uneven but fibre connectivity exists, Wi-Fi calling effectively converts broadband access into a functional substitute for traditional radio-based voice coverage.
The rollout also intersects with the Public Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI) framework, which seeks to expand the availability of affordable Wi-Fi hotspots through public data offices. As PM-WANI networks scale up in semi-urban and rural locations, VoWiFi creates a pathway for voice services to operate over these shared Wi-Fi infrastructures, potentially extending reliable calling to markets, transport hubs and public institutions without requiring additional mobile network build-out.
Private telecom operators introduced VoWiFi earlier, largely as a solution for indoor coverage and capacity management in urban markets with dense fibre penetration and high smartphone usage. In those networks, Wi-Fi calling functioned primarily as a supplementary layer to existing 4G and 5G infrastructure, improving call quality and easing congestion. BSNL’s deployment places greater emphasis on geographic inclusion, positioning VoWiFi as a bridge between fixed broadband initiatives and mobile voice services rather than solely as a network optimisation tool.
From a network planning and regulatory perspective, VoWiFi also supports spectrum efficiency. Carrying voice traffic over Wi-Fi reduces reliance on licensed spectrum, a finite and costly resource, allowing operators to defer or optimise spectrum usage. For BSNL, this approach complements its ongoing network modernisation programme and expansion of 4G services, enabling improvements in service reach and reliability without immediate large-scale expansion of radio access infrastructure.
The service is offered free of cost, with Wi-Fi calls treated at par with regular voice calls under existing plans, in line with prevailing industry practice. BSNL has indicated that VoWiFi can also help reduce congestion on mobile networks, particularly in indoor and densely populated environments.
Looking ahead, the expansion of VoWiFi fits into the broader transition toward 5G standalone (SA) networks, where voice, data and emerging services are fully IP-based and decoupled from legacy circuit-switched systems. As India moves toward wider adoption of 5G SA architecture, services such as Wi-Fi calling familiarise both users and operators with voice as an application layer that can operate across multiple access technologies. In this context, VoWiFi functions as an intermediate step toward deeper fixed-mobile convergence envisaged in future telecom policy frameworks.
The service is supported on most modern smartphones equipped with Wi-Fi calling capability, which can be enabled through handset settings. Information on device compatibility and service support is available through BSNL customer service centres and the company’s helpline at 1800-1503.
Taken together, the nationwide rollout of VoWiFi, the expansion of BharatNet fibre, the scaling up of PM-WANI public Wi-Fi, and the gradual shift toward 5G standalone networks illustrate a telecom strategy increasingly shaped by broadband availability rather than mobile signal strength alone. Within this framework, Wi-Fi calling emerges not merely as a consumer feature, but as a connective layer linking India’s broadband investments with universal voice service delivery.
– global bihari bureau
