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For New Yorkers, Cablevision Introduces a Wi-Fi-Centric VoiP Network
The New York Times reports that
Cablevision Systems plans to announce on Monday the start of a low-cost mobile phone service that will use Wi-Fi for connectivity rather than standard cellular networks, the first such service to be introduced by a cable operator. Called Freewheel, the service will offer unlimited data, talking and texting worldwide for $29.95 a month, or $9.95 a month for Cablevision’s Optimum Online customers — a steep discount compared with standard offerings from traditional cellular carriers. Freewheel customers initially must use a specific Motorola Moto G smartphone, which is being sold for $99.95. The service goes on sale next month, and no annual contract is required.
(Reuters carries a similar story.)
$30/mo is a terrible price. If all you want is talk/text, you can get that, on an ACTUAL cellular network (Cricket/AT&T, and I'm sure other providers) for $25/mo. And, to top it off, they'll only charge you $25 for that Moto G, instead of $100.
As a $5 add-on to your cable plan, it's pretty nice... but not at the "rack" rate.
"T-Mobile, for example, offers a Wi-Fi router that is designed to allow iPhone owners to place phone calls over a Wi-Fi connection. That helps offload some of the traffic that would have gone on T-Mobile’s voice network, but it also compensates for areas where T-Mobile has poor coverage." The writer wrote the above last paragraph. His research was quite limited. T-Mobile offers this to all smart phones. WiFi calling is so that you can make calls inside a building or place where the cell-tower coverage may be weak or inadequate. T-mobile WiFi works all over the planet earth. I was in Moscow, Russia making calls from a McDonald's WiFi to phones in Russia and the United States. You can buy a cheap android phone for $35 NEW! and benefit from this. Compliment this with Google Voice and/or Hangouts and you have a killer phone for a monthly fee of starting at $30 for WiFi (international) and 5GB 4GLTE (US).
If you only want to make calls over WiFi, then the solution already exists. Sign up for a Google Voice number, then install the Google Hangouts Dialer, and you're all set.
The potential value-add here is not the voice or texting service, but access to the WiFi network.