Sprint has officially announced that it will roll out its free Wi-Fi Calling feature to the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini and Galaxy Mega.

Recent rumors have suggested that Sprint was getting ready to launch its own free Wi-Fi calling service, and it now seems that those rumors were accurate. The carrier has just announced that it will bring the feature to its Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini and Galaxy Mega smartphones first, with more devices set to follow later this year.

"Wi-Fi Calling is a FREE service that lets subscribers use their voice and messaging services over existing home, office, and public Wi-Fi networks. With Wi-Fi Calling, Sprint customers will experience improved voice, data and messaging services in locations that previously had limited or no mobile network coverage," reads Sprint's announcement.

"Samsung Galaxy Mega and Samsung Galaxy S 4 Mini customers will be the first Sprint customers to have access to the service after installing an over-the-air update (wirelessly). The update notification will be pushed automatically to Galaxy S 4 Mini and Mega users during the next few weeks."

Wi-Fi Calling allows users to make calls and send messages using their local Wi-Fi network, instead of relying on their mobile network. This should help improve call quality especially in places that are outside Sprint's coverage area, where users may face mobile network coverage issues. It should also improve call quality indoors in buildings with lower mobile network coverage due to building materials.

Here are the customer benefits, according to Sprint:

• Enhanced coverage
• Easy setup: Once activated, everything is seamless and happens in the background
• Unlimited voice calling and messaging on Wi-Fi: All domestic calling and messaging is FREE (standard CDMA international rates apply for international calls).

As Sprint mentioned in its announcement, the feature will roll out within the next few weeks via an OTA update. Installation will take just a few minutes, during which your device will be disabled. The smartphone will be ready for use once installation is complete, and users will be able to activate Wi-Fi Calling by going to their Apps folder and selecting the corresponding icon.