No Signal, No Problem… Unless You’re on Public Mobile ; When is wifi calling coming?

[Seehad]

Public Mobile, we adore your no-nonsense charm and wallet-friendly ways, but we’ve got a little love letter to send your way.

WiFi calling. It’s not just a feature anymore, it’s a lifestyle. The other carriers, even the scrappy discount ones, are already sipping lattes in underground cafés while chatting away on WiFi. Meanwhile, we’re still tiptoeing around our apartments, chasing that elusive signal like it’s a rare Pokémon.

So we ask, with all the affection in our hearts and a touch of impatience in our thumbs, when will WiFi calling arrive for your loyal fans? We’re ready to embrace it, celebrate it, and maybe even write sonnets about it.

Don’t leave us hanging in the signal shadows. Let’s make this connection official.

[Bastian_Vaughan]

I just expressed how ridiculous and greedy Canadian providers are. Nothing else. Nowhere in the world they make a big fuss about it. But Canadians like to be treated like 3rd world country customers. Like they just invented the wheel and need to make profit from that. It's around (in Canada) for a decade - ancient technology by now. Other countries started offering vowifi and it was right away available for all group of customers at no extra fee from monthly plan to prepaid, not limited to their country but available worldwide. And here it's treated like the holy grail and only elite customers can have it. That's just disturbing to me. But heck, Canadians also paid the highest monthly fees worldwide for a hand full of megabytes until a couple years ago. 

[Bastian_Vaughan]

You just said it: Tier 3 , Public Mobile, is basic and offer only basic service and features.

Vowifi is a basic feature. But it seems like Canadian love to get charged for everything.

[slusagm]

@Bastian_Vaughan  of course the cost is "nothing" and we all "think" "they write off over the years", we see that as we are consumers and we are not the one paying the bill and have to balance the sheet at the end of the day

one thing you have to understand PM is Tier 3.  The big 3 all have 3 tiers for a reason, they target to different market share and try not to overlap too much. 
Tier 3 , Public Mobile, is basic and offer only basic service and features.  Tier 3, Koodo, is the one that will offer more, like Wifi Calling.  Some of those features tier 2 offers are free but some with a fees.  Tier 1, Telus, is the one that offers everything and try to sell you other services at the same time

if you insist on having Wifi Calling on a Tier 3 provider, keep waiting and there is always "hope".   

We are just customers here, we offer our observation and experience.  This is also just a community.   We can certainly put our wish list here but don't expect PM Santa will come and deliver it.

[Bastian_Vaughan]

And? How does your argument rectify not giving vowifi? It doesn't cost a penny extra as soon IMS is enabled (happened with VoLTE support).

the cost of the investment for the infrastructure, they write off over the years. So how bad do you want me to feel about that?

[slusagm]

In Canada, we dont have enough population and the country is big means higher cost for coverage 

[Bastian_Vaughan]

I agree. It's about time. There are no excuses. From my home country I have a prepaid SIM card. Once a year I have to top up 15€ (like$25) to keep service alive incoming and outgoing calls. Vowifi is nothing fancy where I'm from. That's why even a prepaid card has it. Companies would be embarrassed towards their customer if they don't offer it. And bonus, of course it works wherever I am on this planet. No restrictions to use it only in my home country. I can use it here in Canada just the way I would do overseas as long I'm on WiFi. 

I don't get it with Canadian providers. They're already in a fine position. Lack of competition, high prices... What else do they want? In my country you can pick from like 500 different provider. Every supermarket has their own branded SIM cards. And here, they just need to lay back and collect money and they don't have to split the customer base with 400 other companies that offer services (yeah I know they're just mvno but still).

Even in the States they get it right and on top they offer visual voice box.

[slusagm]

@Seehad @Chalupa_Batman Protecting their  roaming revenue is only a myth, it is not the reason for not having Wifi Calling here.  With all Canadian providers, Wifi Calling only works in Canada, they block overseas IPs.  You might think you can trick the system by using VPN but they block IPs for most common VPN providers

[hTideGnow]

hi @Seehad but PM has speed capped at 100Mb on all 4G plans as well

And feature wide, PM is still Tier 3 and still no match to Tier 2 Koodo which has more call features and more plan combinations

[Seehad]

That's a really solid point, @Chalupa_Batman . You've hit on what is probably the most difficult truth here.

My fear is exactly that. It makes perfect sense that a service like Wi-Fi calling would be beneficial for network congestion, but it would also remove a major source of revenue from those international and long-distance add-ons. It's tough to get a company to give up a profitable income stream. It looks like the business model is a bigger obstacle than any technical issue.

[Seehad]

Hey @hTideGnow, that's a great point you've brought up! For the longest time, that was exactly how I thought things worked, and it was a solid way to think about carriers

But lately, the whole "tier" system has gotten a little messy. It seems like the lines are blurring between the brands. Just look at Public Mobile—they're supposed to be a "Tier 3" carrier, but they now have 5G. At the same time, Koodo, which is positioned as "Tier 2," actually has its speeds capped at 4G on a lot of plans.

Given that Public Mobile can offer a premium feature like 5G, it's clear the old argument that they only offer "basic services" is no longer valid. In my opinion, there's no technical or logical reason why they can't and shouldn't get Wi-Fi calling. It would be a huge benefit for customers in poor reception areas, like myself.

[slusagm]

yes, Wifi Calling is useful as this is one of the most requested features, but it won't come to PM anytime soon.  

[Chalupa_Batman]

I have to admit @Seehad WiFi calling should be part of Public Mobile. Matter of fact, it should be offered with every mobile service in Canada. Reasoning? Simple. Less stress on their networks when it comes to congestion. However, here's just my thought, there would be no more need for overseas addons where they make money. That's a lot of butter off their bread you're asking to do. I use WiFi calling on my US number here in Canada and love it.

[hTideGnow]

hi @Seehad if you check around, no major Tier 3 carrier offers Wifi Calling.  Telus/Bell/Rogers position Tier 3 carriera as low cost with basic services. 

If you need Wifi Calling, I am afraid you need to go to Tier 2 carrier like Koodo

[computergeek541]

There is no update about this.  I wouldn't expect Wi-Fi calling any time soon.