Comments on: Cell phone operators cautiously embrace Wi-Fi

As cell phone carriers wait for 4G, some are turning to Wi-Fi, but they're being careful about how much they integrate it into their service.

[summershoe]

The ability to hand-off will be nice and if it reduces overall consumer costs then I'd be happy to pay for my wi-fi time. But even without the hand-off wi-fi is already quite useful. I no longer fire up the computer and grab my headset to skype friends overseas. Now I can grab my mobile and make a wi-fi call when I'm at home, in the airport, or in range of any other hotspot. It doesn't necessarily shortchange the mobile carrier since I'd never consider paying their outrageous fees for an international call, it just makes me more likely to by a premium phone, which usually comes with a more expensive plan. I think the U.S. is unique in how anti-competitive the mobile marketplace is. But I suspect they could still make money and foster innovation if they changed their business models slightly. I don't see European carriers suffering and Wi-Fi phones are everywhere here.

[dburr13]

The American cellphone marketplace had better get more competitive with their pricing...or their gravy train will come to a sudden stop...Smart phones...Satellite radio...and other such technological enhancements will be the first things people will leave behind in a lingering recession...They'll be much more worried about paying for fuel to get to work....than they will be about paying the ransom to AT&T.

[dburr13]

The American cellphone marketplace had better get more competitive with their pricing...or their gravy train will come to a sudden stop...Smart phones...Satellite radio...and other such technological enhancements will be the first things people will leave behind in a lingering recession...They'll be much more worried about paying for fuel to get to work....than they will be about paying the ransom to AT&T.

[James7777777]

T-Mobile really needs to continue growing. They don't have a location where I am so I keep an out of state number just to continue using them as my carrier. In my experience they are by far the best mobile phone company in the US.

[ReVeLaTeD]

The other carriers don't want to do it because they'd rather rip you on the data plan. More money in the pocket.

I second the motion that T-mobile seems to have their act together better than the others in that regard at least. Just their phone collection is horrible compared to Verizon.

[Tradeur]

This is funny. T Mobile charges you $10 extra to have WiFi functionality ...but they actually SAVE money when you use WiFi, since you are not using their network. So they expect me to pay for something that saves them money. That's backwards. They should be reducing your bill when you switch to a WiFi enabled plan.

[halflinggray]

The $10 is not for WiFi functionality. The WiFi on the phone will work. Heck, you can even ~use~ the UMA service. The minutes will just come out of your regular plan. The $10 is for the Unlimited calling. So, if you will be using your phone the most via UMA instead of normal cell, you can actually reduce your bill by picking this feature up.

[horse-girl]

The $10 extra is for "unlimited calling on the WiFi".

The Wifi phones charge against your normal plan if you do not pay for the "unlimited Wifi" (e.g. If I make a call that would normally be peak airtime, but I'm connected through wifi I still get billed for peak airtime. If I make a call that would normally be a "free" night/weekend and I'm connected thorugh wifi I still get a "free" call.)

As has been posted many other locations, at this time, calls originating on a wifi are considered to originate within the country of the phone's origin (e.g. If my phone is with T-mobile US with a US phone number, I'm considered to be calling from the US when I'm connected through Wifi. As a consequence, if you are in Europe and connect thorough wifi, you can call phone numbers in the US and are billed as if you were calling the US from within the US.)

[benjaminstraight]

With so many WiFi security breaches, no wonder they are cautious.