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WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum told MWC attendees that his company will add voice calls in the second quarter.
WhatsApp used the Mobile World Congress stage in Barcelona to announce plans for the upcoming launch of voice messaging.
Days after Facebook purchased the application in a $16 billion deal, CEO Jan Koum told audiences today that his company will add voice calls in the second quarter of the year.
"We are driven by the mission that people should be able to stay in touch anywhere and affordably," Koum said during a speech, as reported by Reuters. "Our goal is to be on every mobile phone in the world."
WhatsApp users can already send voice messages to contacts—just press and hold the microphone icon above the keyboard. But this upcoming addition would function more like a telephone call than a voicemail, according to CNET.
The move will certainly up the ante for global mobile network operators, who will soon have a tough competitor; WhatsApp has more than 450 million monthly active users on the Android, iOS, BlackBerry, Nokia S40, Symbian, and Windows Phone platforms.
WhatsApp did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment.
Facebook's Feb. 19 deal includes $4 billion in cash and about $12 billion worth of Facebook shares; there is also the option for an additional $3 billion in restricted stock for WhatsApp founders and employees. Despite its purchase, WhatsApp will continue operating independently, much like Instagram has since Facebook acquired it in 2012.
Its newfound popularity, however, seems to have overwhelmed WhatsApp, which suffered an outage on Saturday, leaving users around the globe without access to their contacts or chats.
That seems to have benefited rival messaging app Telegram, which added 4 million users over the weekend during the WhatsApp outage. The influx of new users, however, also stressed Telegram, which reported "connection issues in Europe due to the high load" yesterday.
For more, see PCMag's review of WhatsApp Messengers for Android, as well as What Is WhatsApp? An Explainer. Also, check out the slideshow above, which features PCMag's ideas for the next billion-dollar startup.
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