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cheddarburrito
Good Neighbour / Bon Voisin
Status: Brand new

Hey there, It would be great if we could also get wifi calling now that Telus has released support with iOS 10.2! This would allow us to still make calls even if our signal isnt the greatest, but we still have a strong wifi connection. Source

16 Comments
SWM
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Completely agree. Would also be great for when people travel abroad to a country other than the US since no other roaming is available yet. It would even be beneficial for those people on province wide plans that travel to another province.

theoc198
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

It would be a really big deal for when traveling and areas with reception that isn't great. 

aip0401
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

@SWM I don't think Wi-Fi calling works that way.  It only works to assist you in cases where your cell signal is weak.  So, unless you have Canada-wide coverage in your plan, you won't be able to use Wi-Fi calling outside your province.  Usage outside your province/country also depends on the roaming agreement that PM has with those cell providers.

SWM
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

@aip0401, that is not how WiFi calling works. If it only worked where you had cell service (weak or strong), it would be of little benefit to even have this feature.

 

From the Telus website:

 

Wi-Fi Calling is an iPhone feature that allows you to call and message (text and multimedia) over Wi-Fi when you have little or no cellular coverage. You can use Wi-Fi Calling to call and message as you do on the cellular network, even if the person on the other end is not using Wi-Fi Calling.

 

 

 

As you can see from above, WiFi calling essentially gives you service wherever you can connect to a WiFi network. This would be perfect for international travelling. 

Luddite
Oracle
Oracle

I'm not so sure about that wifi connection from anywhere. I expect it to be restricted or the telcos will lose all roaming fees.

SWM
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

They will still get roaming revenue from when people are not connected to WiFi. Even now with iMessage they are losing out on text message roaming and this could also be said for Facetime and voice roaming.

aip0401
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen
@SWM, if you read the paragraph you quoted from the Telus website, you already proved my point. Wi-Fi assist only works as an extension of your existing mobile network where coverage is weak. It is not a VoIP solution.
SWM
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

@aip0401, the important line from the Telus website is: "allows you to call and message (text and multimedia) over Wi-Fi when you have little or no cellular coverage". We are not talking about WiFi assist, which is when your WiFi connectivity is poor so you switch back to cellular data. The feature that is being rolled out will allow you to use WiFi to make calls and send text messages when you have poor cellular connectivity or no cellular connectivity at all.

Luddite
Oracle
Oracle

https://www.cnet.com/news/what-you-need-to-know-about-wifi-calling/

 

I take it back; Telus may/or may not restrict wifi calls by country. But in general it looks to be close to using Hangouts or Fongo. Wonder what happens if you use a local data only SIM?

SWM
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

@Luddite, further to your point, Telus may/may not restric wifi calls by country since they already have roaming agreements and could get some roaming revenue by doing so. Public doesn't have any roaming agreements other than in the US so I do not see why they would restrict this. 

 

In terms of if you put in a local data sim, I am not sure if you would still be able to call/text using your usual number or if it would show as being from the local SIM number.

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