“AT&T plans to start offering WiFi calling in 2015, but the carrier isn’t as gung-ho about bringing voice over WiFi as its competitors, despite its huge footprint of unlicensed spectrum,” Sarah Reedy reports for Light Reading.
“AT&T Inc. was the early market leader in WiFi in the US, and it easily maintains the biggest footprint of access points amongst all the carriers here, but Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of AT&T’s new Mobile and Business Solutions group, doesn’t see an urgent need to offer WiFi calling capabilities,” Reedy reports. “Speaking Friday at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference, he said the carrier would use WiFi calling in 2015, but only as a complement to voice-over-LTE and 3G voice.”
“T-Mobile US Inc. just dedicated its entire ‘Un-carrier 7.0’ launch event to talking up its voice-over-WiFi calling capabilities as a way to ensure coverage indoors and in areas where its LTE network doesn’t reach,” Reedy reports. “AT&T doesn’t need to play that game, de la Vega explained. It doesn’t share the coverage issues, and it offers unlimited talk and text on its Mobile Share plans, so its customers aren’t seeking other networks.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Lynn Weiler” and “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
Att has called a few Times to get me to switch to them for cable and television and home phone. One of their selling points was that they have more data than they could possibly know what to do with. So they’re giving dedicated data for home Internet, and much of the home internet phone and cable is coming over the air.
So their towers are not pinched.
So there’s no pressure to get wifi working for calls.
I don’t get this, can someone explain. I can do that now with other apps like “Line”.
What’s the difference?
Not quite. Line is proprietary. You have to use a special app to make calls (or send texts) and the receiver also has to have it. Line is no different than Viber, or Skype (except for the video portion).
Voice-over-WiFi doesn’t need any special app. You use your phone the way you always do — place a call to another number, and it goes through. Whether it will be over voice network, or over 3G / 4G network, or over WiFi is not something you would need to think about — the phone looks at the most stable connection and uses that one. More importantly, if either one drops, it seamlessly switches to the other available one (Wifi to 4G, or to voice) without any interruptions. That’s nothing like Line or Viber.
Thank you for the explanation, very well done. I do see what you mean.
Cool.
They need to sell through their MicroCell inventory first
T-Mobile gives free microcells to customers with demonstrated poor T-Mobile coverage (you must be under contract with a 3G/4G device, though). And once this Voice-over-WiFi service is turned on (soon), even those won’t be necessary anymore.
I can’t understand why the proponents of Voice-over-WiFi aren’t mentioning the one single biggest benefit of it — ability to get cellphone coverage for voice calls in building basements and other underground structures, as well as corporate campuses away from mobile towers, but well covered with WiFi signal. Even in the middle of New York City, where every carrier has solid coverage, in my office building, there are plenty of areas with no or very marginal mobile coverage, but plentiful WiFi. If this is a case in an office high-rise in NYC, I’m sure there are many corporate buildings with poor to no mobile coverage and solid WiFi. After all, wireless carriers have certain priorities when planting their cell towers, which don’t always coincide with density of office parks. Meanwhile, literally EVERY business, large and small, invested a few hundred dollars long ago for reliable WiFi coverage within their business space. This is such a no-brainer, I can’t believe AT&T is so reluctant! They get people to use their service by piggybacking on someone else’s infrastructure, without even having to pay for use of that infrastructure! I’m sure Ralph de la Vega is not that dumb not to understand this, so there must be some other strategic reason why he isn’t so excited about rolling this out. Perhaps it is the cost of the rollout?
ATT towers are mostly degraded and crappy in the burbs. ATT has told us they can’t provide full coverage in every neighborhood and will only invest in ones they consider worth their investment. Basically that means we get 2-3 bars of LTE sometimes (because only one tower nearby and all the others are ” severely degraded” ) and mostly 2-3 bars of 4G other times.
ATT says there that though there are 4 accounts here , apparently that doesn’t warrant upgrading their towers .
WELL:
We got them to pay for the iPhone 6 this time but plan on trying out T Mobile and sprint on out unlocked 5Ss and if that proves to be same or better, we’ll return the subsidized phones within the 14 day cancellation period and tell them to go Fsuck themselves.
Greedy un appreciative blood suckers.
AT&T. No bars in more places!
Excellent!
Um… “AT&T doesn’t need to play that game, de la Vega explained. It doesn’t share the coverage issues…”
Really?!? Guess he doesn’t get out much, if you travel much off the interstate in many rural areas your SOL.. I have a ATT FemToCell at home as a dead zone in my neighborhood..
ATT – like they say in Tangyanyika – sayonara. That’d be bye bye. Hello TMobile, nice to meet you.
I just sent the following email to Ralph.delaVega@att.com…
“I found your reported comment to the Goldman Sachs Communication converence that “AT&T doesn’t need to play that game” (supporting WiFi calling) because you have no significant coverage issues to be exceptionally insensitive to millions of AT&T customers who don’t live in urban areas. The signal in my home is exceptionally weak, maxing out at around -115dB, and in many parts of my house, No Signal. At work it’s a little better, averaging around -105 dB. WiFi calling would solve these problems for me. Your insensitive attitude is pretty much what I have come to expect from AT&T.
I guess what gives you the advantage for me is that T-mobile’s coverage is even worse. If I hear that Verizon will be offering WiFi calling and they express a more understanding attitude about what many of their customers have to deal with on a daily basis, I’ll be leaving AT&T.”
And I corrected the typos! 🙂
Dear Mr. de la Vega,
As a long time customer. I was incensed today when I read that you are going to deploy wifi calling in the USA, which is very good, but at the same time you were quoted as saying, “We don’t have a burning desire or need for coverage,”
What? Until every customer in the USA has LTE you have a burning need for coverage. I don’t have LTE yet at my home or where I work and you bet I would like wifi calling right now.
It’s great that wifi calling is coming, but your quote makes you look as out of touch with reality as Mr. Steve Ballmer did when he laughed off the iPhone in 2007.
Sincerely,
Me
You could also post your articulate letter on the AT&T facebook page.
AT&T. No bars in more places!
I live in NYC. I have att and have NO service is my apt. So I see a strong need for this.
Drop Ralph a note and let him know he’s full of it.
FINALLY off the dime, about 6 years after they SHOULD have deployed it; bad bad baaaad management. T-Mobile has actually supported UMA/GAN “WiFi Calling” for years. Unfortunately this is one of the (many) concepts that most people don’t have the brainpower to “get” until they actually see it in action.
This will be great for me. We have a large house and are currently using two MicroCells. The problem with the MicroCells is that they don’t cover the whole house, and you can’t roam between them. Also the placement of the MicroCells is tricky because they require a clear line of site to the sky for GPS reception. With WiFi calling, we’ll have the ability to roam around the house and can get rid of the MicroCells!!!
“AT&T doesn’t need to play that game, de la Vega explained. It doesn’t share the coverage issues”
Yes . . . it does.
I, and most of my friends who use AT&T don’t get a good signal inside our homes.
Yes I can buy and install an AT&T micro-cell for inside my house. But if I already have WiFi, why do I need to do that?
We already have unlimited talk so it’s not like they are loosing any income from me. (except for an AT&T micro-cell)
This is the company that promised to enable tethering for almost two years. If you want WiFi calling anytime soon, don’t stick with AT&T based on their “promise”.