Rogers, Fido expand international wi-fi calling

It looks like MobileSyrup got an early tip that Canada-based mobile operators Rogers and Fido have launched an “International Wi-Fi Calling” add-on. For operators concerned about preserving roaming revenues, here’s a great way to capture additional value from users traveling abroad.

Rogers has been gradually growing its Wi-Fi Calling service, starting with an offer geared toward students and expanding wi-fi calling to address business’ needs. According to the article, the new add-on gives subscribers with capable phones that ability to use these phones during international travel.

They are charging either $25 or $40 for 30 days of service plans for this. According to the article, $25 gives you international roaming rates and unlimited Wi-Fi calling back to Canada. For $40, you get unlimited local calling and long distance, plus Unlimited Wi-Fi calling. The fine print states that “Calls made back to Canada over Wi-Fi will not be charged against shared roaming plan minutes.”

Wi-Fi Calling for Canada Businesses

Three cheers for Canada's Rogers Wireless ... a steady UMA workhorse for years now! Last week, the operator announced it launched Canada's first Wi-Fi voice service for businesses. The goal? To address business' need for reliable and cost-effective connectivity. It's an expansion of Rogers' existing UMA service packages for studentsRogers' UMA for Students, which it launched last summer.

This quote from the press release explains the value Rogers wants to deliver its business customers with the new service plan: 

"Our business customers are telling us they need flexible connectivity that just works - no matter where they are. And they want it at a predictable, competitive price," says Gordon Stein, Vice President, Business Segment, Rogers Communications Inc. "With this service, business people can be confident that all of their calls will be clear as they move seamlessly from registered internal Wi-Fi systems to the Rogers 3G network. This combination of flexibility and cost certainty is a powerful advantage for growing businesses."

There's an accompanying video interview with telecom analyst Jon Arnold where he talks about the flexibility of the service and the ease of use. He says: "Wi-Fi calling is a smart and simple way to make your business voice communications dollars work better for you.  It's nice to see companies like Rogers thinking like a customer and bringing services like this to market."

There's also a whitepaper (PDF) and a new web page.

If you're in business in Canada, check it out.

Video Contest for UMA, Wi-Fi Calling Fans

If you read this blog, chances are you're a fan of Smart Wi-Fi, powered by UMA. We're trying to harness the power of the excitement of people like you with a new video contest for anyone who loves, needs or craves being able to make calls over Wi-Fi on their smartphones.

Submit your story in a short video to WiFiCalling.net, and you could win one of three new Android smartphones. 



The contest is open to participants worldwide, especially those who use T-Mobile USA’s Wi-Fi Calling, Orange’s Unik or Unique, Rogers’ Talkspot, Cincinnati Bell’s Home Run as well as people who don’t have such a service but wish they did.

We're accepting video submissions at WiFiCalling.net through November 30. On December 15, we'll announce three winners, and each will get a new Android smartphone (exact phone to be determined at time of announcement).

We can't wait to see what you come up with!

Rogers adds UMA to new Blackberries

Rogers Wireless in Canada has offered "TalkSpot", a UMA-based service, to their subscribers for some time.  Just this week, they added two new Blackberry phones to the line-up, including the Bold (9700), Curve (9300) and Pearl (9100).  Check out the post here.  I think the upgrades were specifically to support 3G devices.

Rogers Adds Wi-Fi-Based Services for Subscribers

Rogers Wireless in Canada has announced new a host of new services, including a BlackBerry Rogers student plan for those with smartphones which support UMA or Wi-Fi - these subscribers can now get unlimited Wi-Fi calling. Plus, calls made from Wi-Fi access point don't count towards monthly minute allowances, which is perfect for students on Wi-Fi enabled campuses.

These improved unlimited family and student plans make it easier for students and their families to stay connected during the school year.

The Unlimited Student Plan also delivers an extensive list of unlimited features for students, such as unlimited messaging, unlimited social networking and unlimited evenings and weekends.

This was reported first on RedBoard, the official blog of Rogers Communications, and we read about it on Phones Review UK.

Recent Wi-Fi survey results tell us that 78 percent of people in the United States and 74 percent of people in the United Kingdom who own smartphones with Wi-Fi capabilities would be interested in an application that would use Wi-Fi to deliver 'five bars' of coverage at home or in the office.

It's great to see Rogers, a long-time proponent of UMA and using Wi-Fi to improve coverage, offer discounted calling and keep subscribers happy, once again lead the marketplace with new Wi-Fi-based service offerings.

Blackberry 'Kickstart' Coming to Rogers

Several rumor sources today regarding a new clam-shell RIM Blackberry called the 'Kickstart'. According to Boy Genius, the Kickstart will appear at Rogers with support for their UMA service. RIM continues to be bullish on UMA.

Rogers Launches Pearl 8120

Rogers, the latest UMA-based dual-mode service provider, today launched the RIM Pearl 8120 handset in their portfolio. The UMA Pearl is currently available from Orange and T-Mobile as well. It's good to see Rogers expanding their handset portfolio.

Fierce Names Top 5 'Converged' Devices

FierceWireless released their list of top ‘converged’ devices. By converged I think they meant dual-mode devices, as each of the five devices on the list had Wi-Fi.

The list was:

1. BlackBerry 8820
2. BlackBerry 8320
3. HTC Mogul
4. HTC Tilt 8925
5. iPhone

Interestingly, two of the five are UMA-enabled. Given HTC is rumored to be bringing out UMA-enabled devices shortly, there’s a chance that next year’s list will be 4 out of 5 UMA-enabled.

As for the iPhone supporting UMA, it has been rumored in the past. But UMA in handsets is typically driven by operator requirements. Orange and Rogers both support dual-mode UMA service. Orange and Rogers also both sell the iPhone. Interesting…

PS – credit where credit is due: The image is from Gizmodo. I think choosing Mr. ROGERS to hold the iPhone is brilliant.

PPS – according to Wikipedia, the Mr. Rogers show was first developed in Toronto for CBC, making the reference doubly brilliant.

Fido fetches a DMH service with UMA

Information has been leaked about Fido, a mobile brand in for Rogers in Canada, regarding an upcoming dual-mode handset service based on UMA.

According to the post, the service, called UNO, will have two pricing options and feature the sleek Nokia 6301 and the brand new Motorola Z6w. The rumor is of a soft-launch on April 2.

As show, the Nokia 6301 retails for 50 CAD with three year commitment.

For those of you who continue to think "UMA phones are expensive", the 6300, the non-UMA version, is the same price. Eventually the market will realize there's really no premium to Wi-Fi in handsets.