WiFi for Cheaper, Better, Easier International Calls?

Mae : Wireless Mobility Blog
Mae
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WiFi for Cheaper, Better, Easier International Calls?

In a recent blog entry, I wrote about T-Mobile’s dual-mode (WiFi/Cellular) service being rolled out in Seattle. In the entry, I posed the question: “are consumers actually interested in dual-mode services?”

A definite “yes” answer came from a reader who asked to be identified as Levi from Nairobi, Kenya, who is attending graduate school in the U.S. and wants a cheaper way to communicate with friends and family back home.

“My interest is to have, create, start, or whatever it would take, an easier wireless/wi-fi communication from USA to Africa and vice-versa,” Levi wrote.

Levi said that, while most African cell phones use SIM cards, they are quite expensive compared to those in the U.S. When he flies back home, his Sprint cell phone doesn’t work. T-Mobile, he noted, does provide a mobile phone that works in Africa—and he is planning to switch to T-Mobile for that reason—but it requires a Kenyan SIM card.

“Calling from Kenya to the USA, you have to go to phone bureau or booth that might not charge a lot due to the exchange rate (US dollar to Kenya Shilling) but sometimes, calls are not clear,” Levi wrote. He noted that he can use phone cards to call Kenya, but it is a hassle having to dial all the extra numbers. Also, while calling card rates may be relatively inexpensive, the minutes do add up if you call abroad often.

Clearly, if a dual-mode service offered cheaper rates, reduced hassle, and better voice quality when calling abroad, via WiFi, Levi is one person who would be interested.

I must admit I haven’t attempted to use a cell phone for international calls; when my husband spent six months in India a couple years ago, we mostly communicated via instant messenger (which was slow because he was on a dial-up connection) or occasionally phone using a calling card. Even with the card, phone calls were expensive enough that we saved them for very high priority communications, and stuck with IM for the day-to-day stuff.

It seems to me that two things are needed: better or different communications infrastructure (in the case of India, broadband—whether cable or wireless—would have been helpful) and appropriate services to go along with it.

That could be a challenge, since in some places even basic electrical and phone services are lacking. But, I have heard that WiFi is pretty cheap to deploy compared to some other ways of delivering broadband (and voice).

What do you think—will we all someday make phone calls using WiFi? Will that make it easier and cheaper to make international calls?