“AT&T first introduced Wi-Fi calling in October of 2015, allowing customers to place calls over Wi-Fi in instances where a cellular connection is poor,” Juli Clover reports for MacRumors.
“At launch,” Clover reports, “AT&T’s Wi-Fi calling feature could only be used within the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, but as of this week, Wi-Fi calls can also be made from other countries.”
“When traveling abroad,” Clover reports, “a call placed to the United States or received from the United States using Wi-Fi calling will incur no long distance charges, a feature that should be highly useful to AT&T customers who are visiting another country and calling home.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Excellent! Hello, Verizon?
If you turn the wireless off, will you be able to use WiFi exclusively?
This is a great functionality but if you are abroad and make a call how can you tell whether it used wireless or wifi? Given the cost of a wireless call overseas without a roaming plan, it could get very expensive.
When we get our new phones it will be with Apple so that I can swap out the SIM card and use local connectivity. Super cheap and easy to set up.
Put your phone in airplane mode and leave it here so it won’t connect to any mobile networks. Leave wifi in of course.
You mean “cellular” or wifi
It’s pretty easy, just turn on Airplane mode, and then turn back on WiFi (and Bluetooth if needed). Then your iPhone will only be able to make WiFi calls.
Two thumbs up for AT&T.
I travel a lot to Canada and occasionally Europe. This will be a great way to avoid those extortion-like roaming charges. Plus, when I’m calling my kids who live overseas, I don’t need to pay extra for AT&T’ international plans. Well done AT&T.
My son will be studying abroad for a year in Japan. This will be a very nice feature, however he may need a SIM from a Japanese mobile provider for in-country use. Are the SIMs swappable at a moments notice?
I’d considered ditching them for another carrier, but they won my loyalty after this rollout. It will go a long way to reducing separation anxiety as I divide my time with loved ones in far parts and near. AT&T :— bringing people together in all the right ways.™ 😀
Too little, too late. As someone grandfathered into AT&T’s unlimited plan. I ditched them for T-Mobile. Instead of AT&T overcharging me $5000.00 all my inernational calls from Europe to the USA were included in my plan. No charge. Plus T-Mobile already has had Wi-Fi calling working from the beginning.