Mobile pulse: Rapid take up of 4G Calling

(Fornebu, 24 January 2017) Customers have adopted Telenor’s latest service for calling in record time. In just one year, 600,000 Norwegians have used 4G Calling while more than 100,000 have begun to use WiFi Calling. 

4G Calling and WiFi Calling are the two biggest initiatives Telenor has ever undertaken to boost the quality of and access to mobile phone calls.

4G Calling first became available to customers in January 2016. Experience so far shows that 4G Calling provides better calling coverage, faster connection times for calls and better calling quality. 

‘Customers have been giving us very positive feedback on the service. The first difference the customer experiences is in terms of HD voice quality. 4G Calling also provides better indoor coverage, since it is a robust solution that easily penetrates through buildings that normally don’t receive mobile signal. It is also advantageous that you continue to make calls in the normal way - there’s no need for a separate app,’ says Bjørn Ivar Moen, head of the Mobile Division at Telenor Norway.

Coverage overnight
In practice, WiFi Calling means you can make calls and send text messages without mobile coverage. The call or text message is sent over wireless broadband instead of the mobile network. When newer phones received full support for WiFi Calling in December, the popularity of the service increased. Up to now, 100,000 customers have made use of it. 

‘This is just one initiative to provide better indoor coverage. Some companies, which had previously poor indoor coverage, received coverage overnight and can now make and receive calls without any issues.’ says Ove Fredheim, CMO Business at Telenor. 

The ten best-selling mobile phones through Telenor’s sales channels in 2016:
1. Apple iPhone 6S
2. Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
3. Apple iPhone 7
4. Samsung Galaxy S7
5. Apple iPhone 5S
6. Apple iPhone SE
7. Apple iPhone 6S Plus
8. Apple iPhone 7 Plus
9. Samsung Galaxy A3
10. Apple iPhone 6

Several of the models support 4G and WiFi Calling. This shows that Norwegians are keen users of technology and want the latest releases. 

‘As expected, the chart is completely dominated by Apple and Samsung, and other players have a long way to go before they make it back into the top 10,’ says Bjørn Ivar Moen.

For further information, please contact:
Anders Krokan, PR Manager at Telenor Norway
Tel.: +47 952 09 037, Email: anders.krokan@telenor.com