{"id":25468,"date":"2021-01-11T00:10:55","date_gmt":"2021-01-11T00:10:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/?p=25468"},"modified":"2021-01-09T07:25:41","modified_gmt":"2021-01-09T07:25:41","slug":"o2-uk-expects-to-add-sms-support-to-wifi-calling-in-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2021\/01\/o2-uk-expects-to-add-sms-support-to-wifi-calling-in-2021.html","title":{"rendered":"O2 UK Expects to Add SMS Support to WiFi Calling in 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mobile operator O2<\/a> (Telefonica UK) has informed ISPreview.co.uk that, after a long wait, they intend to join the other primary operators by adding the ability to send and receive text (SMS) messages via Wi-Fi Calling, which they’re aiming to introduce “later this year<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

All of the major mobile operators currently support Wi-Fi Calling<\/strong> (VoWiFi) which, as the name suggests, enables consumers with a supporting Smartphone to harness their home WiFi<\/a> connection or a public WiFi<\/a> hotspot in order to make mobile voice calls (this seamlessly hands back to 4G<\/a> when you move out of range).<\/p>\n

The feature is important because many services use SMS as part of two-factor authentication services (e.g. banks, Vodafone<\/a>\u2019s own account system etc.) and a lot of those don’t work with alternatives like WhatsApp<\/strong> or Apple\u2019s iMessage<\/strong> (many people still don’t use those platforms in general). Equally it’s just a really useful feature to have.<\/p>\n

However, following Vodafone<\/a>’s recent upgrade (here<\/a>), O2<\/a> is now the only major operator to lack SMS support on VoWiFi and quite a few of our readers say they’ve been unable to get a solid answer from the operator about their long-running plans to introduce it. The good news is that we now have a rough answer.<\/p>\n

A Spokesperson for O2<\/a> told ISPreview.co.uk:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“We’re aiming to have the service available for our customers later this year. I can’t be more precise than that at this stage.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In fairness, adding SMS to VoWiFi is a complex thing to implement and requires a lot of testing, although at least we now have a sort of target by which to gauge O2’s progress. However, the operator may have a lot of other things to think about during 2021, not least of which is their forthcoming mega merger with broadband operator Virgin Media<\/a> UK, and then there\u2019s the imminent auction of new 5G<\/a> friendly mobile spectrum (although the new COVID-19 lockdown might delay that.. again).<\/p>\n