What to expect from BSNL Wings, India’s first internet calling service

New Delhi: State-owned telecom firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) on Wednesday unveiled India’s first internet telephony service that will allow users to dial any telephone number in India through its mobile app, Wings. This is particularly useful for people who have poor mobile connectivity but have access to a WiFi connection. Earlier, users could make internet calls within mobile apps, but not to telephone or mobile numbers.

BSNL is offering unlimited audio and video calling for one year. Customers can activate the service at a one-time charge of ₹ 1,099. International calls will be charged in line with the existing landline tariff with an additional ISD deposit of ₹ 2,000. Bookings for new BSNL Wings connections are likely to start soon in all telecom circles of BSNL. New connections will start rolling out from 1 August.
This internet telephony service includes video-calling between two Wings users and will be available on computers as well.

BSNL Wings is being provided using IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), an architectural framework for making internet calls, and Next Generation Network (NGN) that basically converts voice, data and videos into IP packets. To make and receive calls using the service, customers need to install an SIP client, which in this case is the Wings app, on a smartphone or PC with an active internet connection.