Wi-Fi Calling has been around for a long time. Voice calls have been transmitted over Wi-Fi either in the form of OTT applications such as Skype or as initiatives such as UMA and femtocells to enhance the reach of mobile voice services in subscribers’ homes.
The problem with OTT applications from an operator’s perspective is that the operator loses control. The UMA / femtocell initiatives have proven to be too expensive lacking widespread support among phone manufacturers. In an ideal world voice calling should be totally seamless for the user, built-in natively in the device and work over any network connection.
The technology has been available for some time but operators have been hesitant. They have wanted to protect their voice-related revenue including revenue from roaming charges. However, new business models allowing for flat-fee voice services, combined with the realization that users will use OTT applications for calls as much as they can, has removed the last obstacle for taking Wi-Fi Calling to the next level.
In September 2014, mobile operator T-Mobile pioneered this next-generation Wi-Fi Calling solution. This is a paradigm shift for Wi-Fi Calling as it is now implemented with native support embedded in the smartphones and working seamlessly through any Wi-Fi connection. Text messaging (SMS) also works in this way.
Learn more details about Aptilo’s Wi-Fi Calling solution.
Wi-Fi Calling – It’s all about indoor coverage…..
Wi-Fi is everywhere. People are already running the vast majority of their data through Wi-Fi. According to a study by Mobidia as much as 80% of all mobile data is going over Wi-Fi and a big portion of this is, of course, indoor traffic including traffic from within people’s homes. Making matters worse, cellular networks are having an increasingly harder time penetrating modern buildings and those LTE networks running on high frequency bands will not make things easier for them.
What if you could use all of the different Wi-Fi networks that users are connected to for transporting the voice calls that would normally go over the cellular network? All of a sudden mobile operators would be able to offer coverage for their voice services virtually everywhere people spend most of their time.
This is the value proposition of next-generation Wi-Fi Calling, and it is available today!
Don’t mix this up with the Voice over Wi-Fi solutions (VoWiFi) that have been available for many years. This is a next-generation Wi-Fi Calling with VoWiFi and Voice over LTE (VoLTE) support natively integrated in the smartphone dialer, which offers a totally seamless user experience. Newer smartphones such as the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus support a seamless call transfer. When a user moves between LTE and Wi-Fi networks, the call will continue without any interruption. The next-generation Wi-Fi calling will still work for operators that have not yet deployed VoLTE and are still using the circuit switched GSM for voice. However, in this case the call will be terminated when users move between the networks.
Wi-Fi calling is a cost saver and revenue generator
Wi-Fi calling reduces churn, which is a significant cost for operators. Mobile operators will also be able to reduce the cost for building out LTE base stations and femtocells, as Wi-Fi calling will take care of the indoor coverage for voice.
Wi-Fi calling works transparently over any Wi-Fi network, including when the user is abroad. This means zero roaming costs for the mobile operator. If the operator chooses to transfer this cost savings to subscribers by charging the same rate for Wi-Fi calling both domestically and internationally, Wi-Fi calling becomes highly attractive to frequent travelers, creating significant potential for the mobile operator to generate new revenue.
Mobile operators can also acquire new customers looking to replace their current landlines with mobile calls.