Wi-Fi Calling Expansion Seen Among U.S. Carriers
DALLAS -- Wi-Fi for cellphone calls and texts is catching on as U.S. carriers' views of the technology are evolving from seeing it as a competitive threat toward viewing it as a way to complement the cellular network, said carrier and vendor executives. Participants on Telecommunications Industry Association panel Tuesday called T-Mobile a leader in this area. Sprint also has many Wi-Fi capable phones, said T-Mobile Director-Coverage Solutions Della Conley in response to our question. Conley said she wouldn't be surprised if other carriers begin to offer Wi-Fi calling, and a Sprint spokesman later confirmed that the carrier also offers it. A Verizon spokesman said it plans to begin offering Wi-Fi calling this year.
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"The cat's out of the bag" on Wi-Fi calling, said CEO David Fraser of Devicescape, which helps carriers use Wi-Fi networks, also responding to our question. Worldwide, Wi-Fi is "coming from almost everyone; it's hard to imagine a network operator that wouldn't try to include it in their strategy," he said later on the panel. Fraser predicted Wi-Fi will become integrated with carriers. Larger brands are going through a cultural and technological transition, after they've "always worried about Wi-Fi" being either an enemy of carriers or their frenemy, he said. Since one can't "blanket the world" with Wi-Fi, he foresees partnerships between carriers and independent Wi-Fi network operators ranging from McDonald's to Starbucks to libraries and dentists' offices.
Relations between carriers and Wi-Fi technology are improving, panelists said. "It's no secret that operators and Wi-Fi were more enemies than friends, and we were frenemies for a while," said Vice President-Marketing Kelly Davis-Felner of the Wi-Fi Alliance, which has members including Apple, Cisco, Comcast, Microsoft, Sony and T-Mobile, according to its website. The challenges mobile operators are facing from data demand, over-the-top technologies and other issues "have combined into a perfect storm where there really is a shift toward figuring out how many problems can I solve with Wi-Fi," she said. Google's product will be "very good for Wi-Fi" and a "test case for Wi-Fi first and the value of Wi-Fi in this ecosystem," said Davis-Felner. She doesn't expect to see the company become a "large-scale" provider in this area, she added. Google is starting a low-cost wireless phone service called Project Fi in cooperation with Sprint and T-Mobile, a product that analysts have said will heavily use Wi-Fi (see 1504220059).
Wi-Fi calling is seamless to customers, where mobile devices switch from cellular to Wi-Fi networks and can work with any app or technology for calls and texts, including on planes, said panelists. Instead of roaming on other cellular networks, Wi-Fi can be used, they said. "The customer doesn't really care" if communications are by cellular or Wi-Fi, and this means customers "don't need to be limited to a single network," said Conley. "It's really about the consumer experience" instead of T-Mobile trying to increase revenue, she added.
Sprint offers Wi-Fi calling as a free standard feature for many iPhone models and most Android smartphones that work with the carrier's network, a spokesman told us. "It enables customers to use voice and messaging services anywhere they have" Wi-Fi connectivity, he emailed. "Because traditional wireless technology can have some limitations in places like basements or high-rise buildings, WiFi expands connectivity." Wi-Fi calling is free when Sprint customers call from many other countries to the U.S., and when calling American phone numbers, he said. Other carriers offer similar features, such as T-Mobile, said TIA panelists. Verizon plans to offer Wi-Fi calling "later in 2015," said a spokesman. He said it will be "a complementary service to our nationwide 4G LTE wireless network.” AT&T had no immediate comment for this story.
Carriers can also use Wi-Fi calling to reduce churn, such as from customers frustrated they can't get a cellular network signal in a building, said Staff Vice President-Product Management Josh Wigginton of Interop Technologies, which provides messaging and products for IP to network operators. Carriers had seen Wi-Fi as a way to offload data in metropolitan areas with lots of subscribers, and now see it for voice and messaging over Wi-Fi networks, he said. Asked why Wi-Fi calling hasn't become more widespread, Wigginton said there is a "very big buzz" with all of Interop Technologies' customers around it. "They feel the pressure" to adopt Wi-Fi calling, he added, with some European carriers and T-Mobile doing it.