More Than 100,000 Estonians Use 4G Calling

Voice calls over 4G (VoLTE) have reached the masses – more than 100,000 people in Estonia now make calls over the 4G network.

Silver Kurrikoff, Head of Internet and Voice Services at Telia Estonia, said that 4G calling has spiked during the past six months – the usage increased from 20,000 in October last year to 100,000 in the last day of April.

“The main reason behind this increase is the fact that a number of iPhone models got VoLTE support in Estonia. Additionally, other manufacturers have launched new phones that support 4G voice technology. We can say that we timed the launch of VoLTE well, and we are very pleased that so many customers can now use the modern and high-quality voice service,“ Silver Kurrikoff added.

At the end of April, 15 per cent of all calls made in Telia’s network during daytime were 4G voice calls, and this number is increasing constantly.

Currently, there are currently 48 phone models from five manufacturers available in Estonia that support VoLTE.

New phones from Apple, Samsung, and Huawei will get VoLTE in Telia’s network by default, provided the user is a contract customer who is subscribed to a 4G data plan, and that the phone has the latest operating system provided by the manufacturer. Also, 4G (LTE) must be activated on the phone, because VoLTE calls are made over the 4G data network.

4G calling does not affect user’s data plan usage, and the calls are priced as per user’s plan rates.

Telia is the only Estonian carrier who offers 4G calling to its customers. VoLTE enables much faster call initiation and HD-calls. Additionally, 4G data remains active during a VoLTE call. VoLTE service was launched in the summer of 2016.