EE on Tuesday launched its new voice over WiFi (VoWiFi) service in a bid to improve the experience for customers who suffer from poor mobile coverage at home.
"Losing coverage at home is a major frustration, and WiFi calling will make a real difference to millions of customers across the U.K., from basement flats in London to the most rural homes in the country," said EE chief executive Olaf Swantee, in a statement.
Indeed, according to research carrie d out in March by ICM on behalf of the U.K. operator, one in 10 people lack mobile coverage in at least one room at home. The proportion increases to 15% for those living in more rural areas.
The U.K. operator’s service does not need an over-the-top (OTT) app; it uses the handset’s native dialler and text application for WiFi-based calls and texts respectively. This sets it apart from rivals O2 and 3UK, which require customers to download and install a dedicated app.
"Our customers want to be able to call and text no matter where they are, and they don’t want to have to think about which app they need to use or if their friends have a particular third party service," Swantee said.
As revealed to Total Telecom in March, EE’s VoWiFi service is available at launch on the Microsoft Lumia 640, and will also work on the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge when they hit the shelves on Friday.
EE plans to make VoWiFi available on more new and existing devices in the coming weeks, with the aim of giving around 5 million customers access to the service by the summer.
Update: Apple late on Wednesday released an update to its iPhone software, iOS 8.3, which adds WiFi calling to the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 5S and 5C. EE is the first U.K. network operator to offer the service.
