VoWiFi makes use of IMS know-how to offer a packet voice service delivered over IP through a Wi-Fi community
In sum – what to know:
Core ingredient — VoWiFi is a key a part of telco voice methods, serving to lengthen protection, bettering indoor efficiency, and supporting constant voice companies.
Accelerating demand – Demand for VoWiFi is accelerating, pushed by the necessity for dependable, cost-effective voice in areas the place mobile protection is restricted or inconsistent.
5G VoWiFi – 5G strengthens VoWiFi’s position quite than changing it, enabling tighter integration with cloud-native cores, VoLTE and VoNR interworking, and new use instances.
India’s Bharat Sanchar Nigam Restricted (BSNL) not too long ago launched Wi-Fi calling or Voice over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi) companies throughout India to help customers in areas with or without restricted cell indicators.
BSNL isn’t alone in launching such a service. VoWiFi is already a well-liked selection for a lot of telcos world wide seeking to bolster their connectivity affords, however what precisely is that this know-how, who advantages, and what’s driving demand?
What’s VoWiFi?
A complementary know-how to VoLTE, VoWiFi makes use of IMS know-how to offer a packet voice service delivered over IP through a Wi-Fi community. In ideally suited circumstances, voice classes could be seamlessly handed over between LTE and Wi-Fi networks.
In line with the GSMA, VoWiFi advantages each end-users and operators. For customers, this know-how allows them to make calls with out the necessity for a cell sign — notably priceless in distant areas. They may also profit from safety primarily based on SIM-based authentication, in addition to improved indoor protection.
For operators, VoWiFi can unlock income alternatives and result in a aggressive benefit. They’ll additionally leverage present VoLTE SIM-based safety and authentication and entry IMS-based companies through Wi-Fi entry.
Rising demand for VoLTE and voice over Wi-Fi in U.S.
Within the U.S., all three main carriers provide Wi-Fi calling, and have for years. Nevertheless, a latest report discovered that demand for VoLTE and VoWiFi companies within the nation is projected to rise sharply, rising from $3.2 billion in 2026 to $29.6 billion by 2036, a compound annual development fee of twenty-two.4%. The speed of development is predicted to speed up because the adoption of 5G and Wi-Fi calling expands.
The most important driver behind this rise in demand, acknowledged the report, is the growing want for high-quality, cost-effective voice companies in cell communication. “As cell information networks evolve, VoLTE and Voice Over Wi-Fi provide clear voice calls with higher connectivity and protection, particularly in areas the place mobile indicators are weak,” it mentioned. “As cell information consumption rises and 5G adoption will increase, VoLTE and Voice Over Wi-Fi have gotten important parts of recent communication networks.”
The growing penetration of 4G and 5G networks — which allow sooner and extra environment friendly voice companies — can be behind the expansion in demand, in addition to the widespread availability of Wi-Fi in public areas and houses.
Past the U.S., Bell, Telus, Rogers, Fido, and Virgin Cell in Canada all help Wi-Fi calling, as do Orange and Bouygues in France, O2, Telekom, and Vodafone in Germany, and AIS in Thailand, simply to call a couple of.
What about 5G VoWiFi?
Regardless of the rise of 5G, VoWiFi stays a core element of operators’ voice methods — and in some instances turns into extra vital, not much less. A standard false impression is that “5G VoWiFi” represents a brand new radio know-how. In follow, VoWiFi continues to depend on the identical IMS-based structure used for VoLTE, with Wi-Fi serving because the entry community quite than mobile spectrum.
What 5G does change is the operational surroundings round voice companies. In standalone (SA) 5G networks, operators can extra tightly combine VoWiFi with cloud-native cores, community slicing, and coverage management, enabling extra constant high quality of service throughout entry sorts. This permits voice classes to maneuver extra seamlessly between 5G, LTE, and Wi-Fi whereas sustaining reliability, safety, and low latency.
In a 2025 white paper, the GSMA famous that the evolution towards 5G is introducing new necessities for Wi-Fi calling. These embrace nearer interworking with each VoLTE and 5G Voice over New Radio (VoNR), in addition to help for added IMS companies past voice, equivalent to information channels. Wi-Fi calling can be anticipated to play a rising position in delivering voice, video, and messaging companies over satellite tv for pc backhaul in maritime and in-flight connectivity eventualities.
From a community structure perspective, the business remains to be in transition. Whereas many operators initially deployed legacy developed Packet Knowledge Gateways (ePDGs) to attach Wi-Fi calling site visitors into the 5G core, the GSMA recommends migrating towards native non-3GPP interworking features (N3IWF) to take full benefit of 5G safety frameworks and unified authentication fashions. Challenges stay, together with correct location willpower when Wi-Fi entry networks are owned by third events or related through satellite tv for pc, in addition to inconsistent help for end-to-end QoS marking in some gadgets and shopper Wi-Fi tools.
Taken collectively, these developments reinforce VoWiFi’s ongoing relevance in a 5G period. Relatively than being displaced, Wi-Fi calling is more and more positioned as a foundational ingredient of converged voice methods, enabling operators to ship constant companies throughout heterogeneous and complementary wi-fi networks.
