by Luke Johnson 09 April 2015 |
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EE WiFi Calling has launched ahead of schedule, with iPhone owners gaining exclusive access to the innovative new feature.
Earlier this week EE revealed plans to debut its new service – which allows users to make calls and send texts over a Wi-Fi connection – on the Samsung Galaxy S6 when the handset launches tomorrow, April 10.
Now, however, Apple has added support for the service with last night’s introduction of iOS 8.3.
EE WiFi Calling is now available for iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C users who have updated to iOS 8.3.
Those with compatible handsets – and EE deals – will be able to enable the service by selecting ‘WiFi Calls on your iPhone’ within the ‘Phone’ section of the ‘Settings’ menu.
Once the feature has been selected, EE will enable the service within a couple of hours.
Making the announcement, an official EE spokesperson stated: “Starting today, iPhone customers on EE can make and receive high quality calls over Wi-Fi and send text messages, using their own phone number with no need to use an app – great for when a mobile signal is unavailable.”
The service will be extended to Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge adopters tomorrow as planned, with the Microsoft Lumia 640 also set to add support in the coming days.
Related: iPhone 6S release date
Featuring no additional charges, EE WiFi Calling is enabled on compatible devices when the integrated platform senses a traditional cellular signal is not available.
Given the unexpected introduction of iPhone support, EE has revised its WiFi Calling adoption forecasts.
Having previously tipped 5 million consumers to benefit from the service by the end of the summer, the network has now suggested this figure will be achieved before the end of April.