T-Mobile hosted its Uncarrier 7 event in San Francisco today. It was an opportunity for T-Mobile CEO John Legere to host his very own roast of other carriers and share the latest news for his own: VoLTE to Wi-Fi calling and texting, free in-flight texting and a free microsite.
T-Mobile CTO, Neville Ray announced that customers would now be able to seamlessly move calls from VoLTE to Wi-Fi. That means if you are on a carrier covered call and then move to a place where there’s only Wi-Fi coverage — like a basement — you will be passed to your Wi-Fi network so your call can continue. Legere says that every single Wi-Fi network (that you have access to) is now a T-Mobile tower.
Every phone sold by T-Mobile will now be Wi-Fi call enabled out of the box. Legere says that every single customer will be able to use Wi-Fi calling and texting and that anywhere the company has LTE, it will support VoLTE. Apple announced at its fall event that T-Mobile was the only carrier that would support the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus’ VoLTE feature.
The company also announced a free (there’s a $25 deposit) T-Mobile Personal CellSpot for its customers. It’s basically a T-Mobile microsite that helps fill in any dead zones in your home. The CellSpot can replace your current router or be an additional wireless network in your home. But, the CellSpot puts voice calls ahead of other data going through the device.
For travelers, T-Mobile has teamed up with in-flight network service Gogo and will offer free, unlimited texts and picture messages to any number in the world on any US flight that is Gogo enabled. You can also get visual voicemails while on a flight. The service starts on September 17 and thankfully there was no news on voice calls during flights.
Plus travelers will now get free Wi-Fi calling back to the US. This is an extension of the company’s free international text and data plan.
➤ Uncarrier 7 [T-Mobile]
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.