AT&T Adds Wi-Fi Calling, HD-Voice

I've been using T-Mobile Wi-Fi calling and HD-Voice since they rolled out the service on one of my iPhones. Now, AT&T has added the same features almost a year later. But there's a hitch. You need to have a newer version of an AT&T SIM card and that requires a visit to your local AT&T store.

That's a point that the AT&T web site and media coverage fails to point out even though the web page lists many caveats, restrictions and limitations.

I'm excited that AT&T is adding Wi-Fi calling, at least until more buildings and hotels become DAS equipped. We're entering an era where land lines are becoming more and more extinct and LTE coverage in building gets patchy and spotty. Wi-Fi is more plentiful and far more available, thus getting coverage and network access in the mobile first era makes Wi-Fi calling essential, and removes the need for Skype or another VoIP service provider who already has Wi-Fi calling capability from being in place.

This opens up a whole other argument. Equal Access to the mobile operator's networks. But that's for another day.

 

 

Comments

[Andy Abramson]

People who have been AT&T customers for a long time, like me, and who first received a Nano SIM with iPhone 5 or 5S (my case both) would not have needed a new SIM card with iPhone 6 so we kept using the same Nano. The SIM for the iPhone 6 was a newer SIM card with a richer set of capabilities. A similar replacement was needed when I started to use my Nexus 7 tablet with LTE vs. the prior version, but that was Micro, and some other Androids as LTE was being rolled out.

Not a big deal but a point of information worth sharing, Kevin.

[Kevin C. Tofel]

Andy, what new SIM card is needed? I ask because I didn't go to the AT&T store to get one. I have an iPhone 6 and I'm using the SIM card that came with it last year. Since AT&T's Wi-Fi Calling is only supported on the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s and 6s Plus, I suspect few people will need a different SIM but that's just a guess.