Verizon's Wi-Fi Calling Coming to Galaxy S6 on Monday, iPhone 'Early Next Year'

Saturday December 5, 2015 6:46 am PST by Eric Slivka
Verizon yesterday announced that it will begin rolling out support for Wi-Fi Calling next week, starting on Monday with Samsung's Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. iPhone users will need to wait a bit longer, with an update enabling the feature expected "early next year."

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Wi-Fi Calling will initially be available on the Samsung Galaxy S 6 and Samsung Galaxy S 6 Edge and will be rolled out as a software update in phases. Additional Android and iOS devices will receive Wi-Fi Calling capabilities via future software updates expected early next year.
Wi-Fi Calling allows phone calls to be automatically placed over Wi-Fi connections in areas where cellular service is poor, seamlessly transitioning between cellular and Wi-Fi as needed.

Sprint and T-Mobile have supported the feature for some time, and AT&T launched its support in early October. AT&T made waves by claiming Sprint and T-Mobile have been offering the feature illegally, due to Federal Communications Commission requirements for supporting a teletypewriter (TTY) feature for deaf and hard-of-hearing users.

AT&T received its waiver from the FCC just days later, and Verizon followed with its own request, with the FCC approving it several weeks ago. Sprint and T-Mobile have not received waivers from the FCC, but continue to operate Wi-Fi Calling and believe no waiver is required.

Tags: Verizon, Wi-Fi calling
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ldman15
54 months ago

Maybe Samsung paid them to promote their S6 devices.

That's exactly what Samsung did. And that's why it took so long for them to announce it after they got the waiver. They were trying to sell early access to the highest bidder. It has nothing to do with testing it out on a few devices at a time. It's about money. It's always about money.
Rating: 27 Votes
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Amacfa
54 months ago
Good. It's wise to roll out slowly then on a massive scale. ;)
Rating: 11 Votes
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criticalmind
54 months ago
Maybe Samsung paid them to promote their S6 devices.
Rating: 11 Votes
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philipk
54 months ago

And they continue to lag behind everyone else in terms of features such as wifi calling. add the fact they are the most expensive of all the carriers and I just don't see why people stick with them.

I am on AT&T which is only a little cheaper, but their network now is as good as verizon.


I don't know where you live but AT&T is NOT as good as Verizon in much or even most of the country except for cities larger that 100,000.

I had AT&T from the iPhone 3 until two years ago after having Sprint first. In the urban areas it was great but it didn't work well in the rural areas.

I now live in a rural area in a village of about 3,000 people. Verizon is still the only real option. AT&T advertised they had two new towers in our county. Friends said it only helped on the major Interstate that runs through the county. That Interstate is ten miles from our village.

So please don't claim that Verizon isn't tops in coverage from rural areas.

This post is being written by a person who had to hold his nose to switch to Verizon. I was with Sprint from the day they opened shop until buying the iPhone 3 and then I was with AT&T. Both are superior to Verizon in (most) urban areas.
Rating: 6 Votes
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malexandria
54 months ago
I don't understand why carriers can't activate these types of service across all devices at the same time. Not knowing anything about the telecom tech, but it seems like WiFi calling is a Carrier thing and not necessarily based on the device. Only reason to delay seems to be from a capacity standpoint?
Rating: 5 Votes
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C DM
54 months ago

Verizon really treats Mac


Verizon tends to treat Apple and customers as third party citizens. Look at the recent shenanigans they have been implanting to Apple customers.

What recent shenanigans?
Rating: 5 Votes
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businezguy
54 months ago
Could Verizon be any slower? I live in a rural area where cell service is sketchy so I maintain a LAN line. I'd like to cancel that LAN line! It doesn't help that Verizon is the most expensive carrier of the bunch.
Rating: 5 Votes
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shareef777
54 months ago

That's exactly what Samsung did. And that's why it took so long for them to announce it after they got the waiver. They were trying to sell early access to the highest bidder. It has nothing to do with testing it out on a few devices at a time. It's about money. It's always about money.


Yep. It's all about money. For Verizon, for Samsung, for APPLE. Out of those three, which one has the MOST money? It's the reason we still have 16GB base iPhones.
Rating: 4 Votes
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Dextor143
54 months ago
Too late, hate verizon anyways, T-Mobile all the way!
Rating: 4 Votes
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KPOM
54 months ago
Why is it taking Verizon so long? The other carriers activated it for all eligible phones at once.
Rating: 4 Votes

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