“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.]