Lucky users in a select group are now being given access to Voice over LTE, or VoLTE, as part of Project Fi, Google’s wireless mobile service.
To give you a background, Google’s Project Fi was launched in April 2016 as a virtual network service that uses multiple carriers to give you the best possible cellular signal no matter where you are.
Essentially, it works with Sprint, T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular to find the fastest connection in a particular location – that could be 4G LTE, 3G or even 2G. Based on which is the fastest among these and which carrier has the strongest signal, Google’s Project Fi will ensure that you’re always on the best one.
Some of these lucky testers have said that the testing has been underway for some weeks, which Google confirmed was the case.
There are several advantages to Google being an MVNO, or mobile virtual network operator. We’ve already seen the main benefit of always being on the best connection based on your location, but there are others as well.
For example, calls will be of a higher quality, your data bandwidth doesn’t get affected when you’re on a call, and you’re not likely to experience as many call drops or connection drops when you use voice and data at the same time.
Unfortunately, Google is playing this card close to its chest, only allowing this capability on Android devices such as Google Pixel, Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X.
Another downside is that you have to have T-Mobile as your primary carrier, since none of the other service providers have officially launched VoLTE support on their respective networks.
VoLTE is a new addition to Project Fi, so even if you get on Project Fi now, there’s no guarantee that VoLTE will be available to you. Google is yet to announce when it will complete testing and roll out the feature.
If you own an eligible device that’s currently on a T-Mobile plan, you can download the Android app from the Play Store. You can also check the plans and pricing here.
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