Today T-Mobile announced that WiFi calling will be available on a growing selection of T-Mobile’s Android-powered smartphones in the coming months. T-Mobile USA has long touted WiFi calling as the answer for augmenting its cellular network – rather than Femtocells – which use cellular frequenies in the home.
T-Mobile says Wi-Fi Calling will be availabile with Android-powered smartphones using their built-in Wi-Fi. Those phones include the recently announced new T-Mobile myTouch and Motorola DEFY with MOTOBLUR. Currently, T-Mobile offers Wi-Fi Calling on numerous devices including the Nokia E73 Mode™, BlackBerry® Curve™ 8520, BlackBerry® Bold™ 9700 and the new BlackBerry® Curve™ 3G
Powered by Kineto’s Smart Wi-Fi Application, T-Mobile’s Wi-Fi Calling for Android smartphones will be ready to use out-of-the-box, providing the ability to make voice calls and send SMS from accessible Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) access points across the globe in addition to the connectivity available through T-Mobile’s mobile network.
Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) handsets can make and receive calls from anywhere your phone can connect to a WiFi network and saves on roaming charges. According to Wikipedia, when a Voice over WiFi handset detects a wireless LAN, it can establish a secure IP connection through a gateway to a server on the carrier’s network. It presents the mobile core network as a standard cellular base station and the handset communicates over a secure connection using existing GSM/UMTS protocols. When a mobile moves from a GSM to an 802.11 network, it appears to the core network as if it is simply on a different base station.
Voice over WiFi (VoWiFi) capabilities can be valuable to subscribers, explains Monica Paolini. I you happen to live or work in a place where cellular coverage is not available or reliable, you can use a local WiFi hotspot – your own or others.
