T-Mobile, one of the US’ biggest mobile operators, is to provide customers with free wireless routers in an attempt to improve their cell reception.
The company announced its plans on Wednesday, saying the move would help expand its services to areas where reception is either patchy or non-existent. According to the firm’s CEO, John Legere, the majority (57 per cent) of customers have experienced dropped calls.
Some experts are suggesting that the decision to introduce Wi-Fi calling is a clear attempt by T-Mobile to draw consumers away from competitors that have more of a focus on wireless services.
According to cnet.com, Verizon Wireless says it has no plans to follow T-Mobile by introducing Wi-Fi calling, but AT&T admitted that a similar service was in the pipeline.
Speaking at yesterday’s Un-carrier 7.0 event, Mr Legere said that customers would be able to rely on their new connections to send texts and make HD-quality calls, mashable.com reports.
While the new routers – dubbed CellSpots – will only be usable in subscribers’ homes, plans are also in place to extend Wi-Fi calling to aircraft passengers. At the same event, T-Mobile announced a new partnership with Gogo, which will see passengers given the ability to send messages and photos to other users.
