While Freedom Mobile already offers its customers Wi-Fi calling, the carrier has yet to roll out VoLTE — a feature that many customers are eagerly anticipating.
The wait may soon be over, though, according to a new clue spotted by Reddit user ‘ThE_MarD.’
On a Google Git repository for Android — a system developers use for source code management — they found that the Google Pixel 2 XL (under its codename Wahoo) has VoLTE APN settings for Freedom Mobile.
An APN, or access point name, refers to the settings your phone uses to make a connection between your carrier’s network and the wider internet. The APN settings ThE_MarD stumbled upon are necessary for getting VoLTE.
Another user on the thread stated that Field Test Mode — an app pre-installed on many phones that provides details and stats related to the network — showed them that some LTE towers have “is_ims_voice_supported” set to 1, where it had been 0.
While Freedom Mobile didn’t comment on the findings, CEO Brad Shaw did confirm during the company’s most recent earnings call that VoLTE would likely arrive this year.
“Looking forward, we remain on track to have the VoLTE launched in fiscal 2018 and we continue deployment of our 700MHz spectrum, which will roll out in fiscal 2019,” said Shaw.
The launch of VoLTE is paired closely with the roll out of 2500MHz (Band 7) and 700MHz (Band 13) spectrum, Shaw further stated in its Q2 2018 release.
Freedom began rolling out Band 7 in October 2017, and the carrier confirmed to MobileSyrup that it was testing Band 13 in select markets in March 2018.
Both swaths of spectrum were acquired from Quebecor in July 2017 for $430 million CAD.
Source: Reddit
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