Some AT&T customers can now make VoLTE calls to people on other carrier networks

Yesterday, AT&T confirmed that it would be ditching two-year contracts for its smartphones. Now the company is back in the headlines for an entirely different reason.

The Big Blue network has had plans in place to support what’s called Voice over LTE (VoLTE) for quite some time now, but the rollout hasn’t been all that speedy. That’s beginning to lean in the other direction now, though, as the carrier has made a brief announcement confirming the technology is now beginning the baby steps necessary for a national rollout.

“I’m pleased to report this month we saw the first VoLTE exchange between our customers and another carrier in limited, select areas,” wrote AT&T’s Bill Smith. “We’re working with others on this same feature, too.”

AT&T’s VoLTE network currently covers about 295 million Americans, with more than 27 million active subscribers.

Other advantages of VoLTE technology on iPhones include the ability to simultaneously surf the web and talk at 4G speeds and support for HD Voice technology which produces more natural sounding audio by extending the frequency range of the audio signals, resulting in “remarkably clearer calls.”

To see if AT&T’s VoLTE network is available in your area and for your device, check outAT&T’s coverage viewer.