Verizon rolling out VoLTE in coming weeks via software update

Verizon announced today that it plans to roll out support for Voice over LTE (VoLTE) in the coming weeks following the early stages of roll outs from both AT&T and T-Mobile. The news will enable the higher quality voice calling on Android handsets with support chipsets, but the news comes just ahead of Apple’s expected introduction of the feature alongside iOS 8 and iPhone 6. Our sister site 9to5Mac first reported back in April that Apple is targeting voice-over-LTE support for iOS 8 and future iPhone models:

Another significant addition being considered for iOS 8 and the next-generation iPhone is voice-over-LTE support (VoLTE), according to carrier sources. Currently, when an LTE-capable iPhone needs to make a phone call, the actual call is placed over last generation networks such as 3G. With VoLTE, calls will be transmitted over the same type of network that LTE data is processed through, and this can allow for benefits such as improved call quality.

The chipset in the current generation iPhones technically supports calling over LTE, but Apple is yet to enable the feature in iOS. It isn’t a huge list of Android devices that have access to the feature either, however, and carriers will have to roll out support for specific devices via a software update.

Verizon previously announced its plans to roll out support for the higher quality voice calls over LTE, but today confirmed the feature will be available via a software update in the coming weeks. AT&T and T-Mobile have also announced support for VoLTE and have already started rolling out the feature to customers.