Both AT&T and T-Mobile Will Support WiFi Calling on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus

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It looks like T-Mobile and AT&T are on board with Apple's plan to offer WiFi calling (and texting) on the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Both carriers announced their plans to support the new feature. This will help ease their network congestion (or so they say).

For now, T-Mobile is the only carrier who will support the function right away, as they already worked out the details with Apple. AT&T simply committed to using the feature next year (2015). With AT&T it will only be a complementary feature for LTE users. According to an AT&T spokesperson, the feature isn't as critical to AT&T's network as it is for T-Mobile to help ease congestion.

Here's a quote with a few more details,

T-Mobile US Inc. just dedicated its entire "Un-carrier 7.0" launch event to talking up its voice-over-WiFi calling capabilities as a way to ensure coverage indoors and in areas where its LTE network doesn't reach. AT&T doesn't need to play that game, de la Vega explained. It doesn't share the coverage issues, and it offers unlimited talk and text on its Mobile Share plans, so its customers aren't seeking other networks. (See T-Mobile Turns Up VoLTE-to-WiFi Handoff.)

As with VoLTE, de la Vega says it won't launch VoWiFi before it can ensure it's a great customer experience with no dropped calls, which suggests it plans to implement it with seamless handoff in place next year. (See Taqua Acquires Kineto for VoWiFi Push.)

The need might be less acute, but de la Vega has seen the writing on the wall. Now that Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) has announced support for VoWiFi in iOS 8, there is a lot more interest in the technology. All WiFi-enabled Android devices and iPhones have the capability, it's just up to the operators to turn it on in their networks.

Sound off if you think this is an important feature for you on the new iPhone.

Source: LightReading