Verizon Plans to Introduce Wi-Fi Calling Sometime Next Year, Doesn’t See It As a Priority

Depending on where you live, Wi-Fi calling may be more a necessity than an added benefit. Verizon, however, feels differently. Speaking at a telecommunications conference sponsored by Bank of America, Verizon Wireless CFO Fran Shammo told attendees that while Verizon plans to launch Wi-Fi calling in the middle of next year, it isn’t and never was a “top priority” for the carrier.

For comparison’s sake, that’s roughly in line with AT&T, which also intends to begin offering Wi-Fi calling sometime next year.

Shammo said the robustness of Verizon’s 3G CDMA network precluded the need to roll out Wi-Fi calling at an earlier time. He added that ensuring consistently high quality of call service presented a challenge – in fact, Verizon still has to do “some technological work” to finalize it, Shammo said.

Shammo’s comments come at an interesting time. T-Mobile heavily emphasized Wi-Fi calling at an “Uncarrier” event last week, when it announced a plan to provide subscribers ASUS-made routers free of charge. T-Mobile is also the only carrier which supported Wi-Fi calling on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus at launch. For its part, Sprint supports Wi-Fi calling on a number of Android devices.

So, are you upset, or is Wi-Fi calling really that big a deal?

Via: Fierce Wireless