3 claims first Wi-Fi Calling among Swedish cellcos

Hong Kong-backed Swedish mobile operator 3 Sweden has announced the launch of Wi-Fi Calling, also known as Voice-over-Wi-Fi (VoWi-Fi). The service is aimed at tackling poor indoor coverage by connecting mobile phones to local Wi-Fi networks, and is provided at no extra cost to 3’s post-paid mobile subscribers (while normal call charges apply for pre-paid users). 3 claims to be the first mobile operator in Sweden to launch the Wi-Fi Calling service, which its press release noted has been successfully implemented in the US and the UK, where ‘millions of daily users previously had problems with poor indoor coverage’. Nicholas Hogberg, CEO of 3 Sweden, said: ‘Indoor coverage is a challenge for all mobile networks. We know there are Swedes who have problems with their indoor coverage and therefore we have worked intensively with both technology vendors and handset manufacturers to launch Wi-Fi calls.’