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T-Mobile unveils expanded WiFi calling capabilities, Personal CellSpot router, partnership with Gogo

Screen Shot 2014-09-10 at 4.56.17 PM

During its Uncarrier 7.0 event this afternoon, T-Mobile revealed a handful of new announcements as part of its ongoing quest to lead the mobile industry. Firstly, CEO John Legere announced that every phone it sells from here on out will be capable of WiFi calling and texting. The company says that anyone who does not currently have a phone capable of WiFi calling can upgrade to a supported phone with the carrier’s Jump program. As the name implies, WiFi calling and texting allows you to make calls and send texts over your WiFi network, as opposed to over the cellular connection.

T-Mobile calls these changes the “WiFi Unleashed” campaign and says that all of its devices, even low-end phones, will support it. This, of course, includes the recently announced iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, both of which feature VoLTE capabilities. Legere praised Apple’s announcements yesterday, as well, saying that he can’t wait to get his hands on everything.

The carrier also unveiled the Personal CellSpot carrier, which is a router that it designed to improve WiFi calling and texting. The CellSpot can run either alongside your current router, or as a standalone router. The biggest selling point for the device, however, is that for anyone on T-Mobile, the CellSpot is free, albeit for a $25 deposit. You can also purchase it outright for $99. The router features 802.11a/b/g/n/ac capabilities.

Finally, T-Mobile today announced a new partnership with Gogo. With the partnership, T-Mobile customers will now have the ability to send and receive unlimited texts on a flight with Gogo, in addition to seeing visual voicemail.

The full breakdown of T-Mobile’s Uncarrier 7.0 announcements is below:

  • 100% of new smartphones in T-Mobile stores are Wi-Fi calling and texting capable – An exclusive enrollment window in JUMP! – T-Mobile’s revolutionary upgrade program – so 100% of customers can immediately upgrade to a new Wi-Fi calling ready smartphone.
  • Designed to deliver high-quality HD voice, fast call setup times, fewer dropped calls and seamless voice coverage between T-Mobile’s nationwide Voice over LTE (VoLTE) network and Wi-Fi with compatible smartphones.
  • The T-Mobile Personal CellSpot – a new device that enables everyone to put the capabilities of a personal T-Mobile tower in their house, delivering a full-bars T-Mobile experience ANYWHERE you have broadband, and equipped with a unique patent-pending technology that prioritizes voice calls for crystal clear HD Voice.
  • An exclusive, new partnership with Gogo – the world’s leading in-flight connectivity service – enabling T-Mobile customers to send and receive unlimited text and picture messages, and even get visual voicemail, on any Gogo-equipped flight on U.S.-based airlines.

T-Mobile Launches Un-carrier 7.0
Un-leashes Wi-Fi Worldwide

Enables every T-Mobile customer and smartphone to call and text over any Wi-Fi connection
for seamless coverage where no carrier network reaches – even at 30,000 feet

Unveils T-Mobile Personal CellSpot for personal coverage wherever customers choose

San Francisco, California – September 10, 2014 – Get ready for a whole new way to think about mobile coverage. T-Mobile (NYSE: TMUS) today rewrote the rules of wireless again with Un-carrier 7.0 “Wi-Fi Un-leashed,” breaking several major announcements that together deliver coverage where no cellular network has gone before.

With every major smartphone maker adopting it, Wi-Fi calling and texting has reached a tipping point, and T-Mobile is getting 100% behind it as only the Un-carrier can – to deliver unprecedented coverage to its customers to places where no cellular network can reach.

With Wi-Fi Un-leashed, T-Mobile announced that it’s lighting up Wi-Fi calling and texting for every Simple Choice customer on every new smartphone it sells. Now 100% of new smartphones in T-Mobile stores will be Wi-Fi calling and texting capable, and 100% of T-Mobile customers will be able to get a Wi-Fi calling and texting capable smartphone if they don’t already have one. To make it easier for customers to take advantage of these new capabilities, T-Mobile is opening an exclusive enrollment window in JUMP!, the Un-carrier’s revolutionary upgrade program, so customers can immediately upgrade to a new Wi-Fi calling ready smartphone.

“Wi-Fi Un-leashed is a game changer. This is like adding millions of towers to our network in a single day,” said John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile. “The difference between us and the traditional carriers is that they’ll do everything they can to make more money off you. We’ll do everything we can to solve your problems, and today, that’s about uniting Wi-Fi with our data strong network for unprecedented coverage.”

In contrast to the carriers, who lock customers inside walled-off, proprietary networks to monetize them, T-Mobile has taken a typically disruptive Un-carrier approach with “Wi-Fi Un-leashed” by tapping every available technology to deliver coverage in places unreachable by any cellular network – and by making it incredibly simple. There’s no app to install or separate IDs to remember. Just use your phone.

In addition to enabling T-Mobile customers to use any public or private Wi-Fi connection they can access like a T-Mobile tower for calling and texting, the Un-carrier has rolled out next-generation Wi-Fi calling and texting on its network. This new technology is designed to deliver high-quality HD voice, fast call setup times, fewer dropped calls and seamless voice coverage between T-Mobile’s nationwide Voice over LTE (VoLTE) network and Wi-Fi with compatible smartphones.

With Wi-Fi Un-leashed, all T-Mobile customers can also make free Wi-Fi calls to the United States from anywhere outside the country – all using their existing T-Mobile number with no app to install and no additional IDs or numbers to manage – wherever they have Wi-Fi.

Full-Bars Personal Coverage Wherever You Choose
In a classic Un-carrier move, T-Mobile introduced another radically simple idea−give customers the power and freedom to personalize their coverage wherever they choose. The Un-carrier unveiled the T-Mobile Personal CellSpot, a new device that enables everyone to put the capabilities of a personal T-Mobile tower in their house.

With 57% of American wireless users saying they often drop calls in and around their home, the Personal CellSpot delivers a full-bars T-Mobile experience − in your basement workshop, small business or anywhere else you have broadband – using state-of-the-art Wi-Fi technology. What’s more, it can completely replace your existing Wi-Fi router or operate right alongside it. And, the T-Mobile Personal CellSpot comes with unique patent-pending technology that prioritizes voice calls for crystal clear HD voice.

Starting September 17th, every Simple Choice customer with a broadband connection and a Wi-Fi-calling ready smartphone can get a T-Mobile Personal CellSpot completely free of charge with a $25 refundable deposit. The only thing left to do is decide where you want your personal full-bars T-Mobile experience.

“For years, the big phone company utilities have told you where you can and can’t have coverage. And wherever their networks can’t reach, you’re SOL,” said Legere. “With T-Mobile Personal CellSpot, we’re putting an end to that old way of thinking. Now, you can decide wherever you want your own T-Mobile tower− giving you amazing full-bars experience where no carrier network has reached before.”

Coverage at 30,000 Feet
In a closely related move, T-Mobile extended “Wi-Fi Un-leashed” to the skies through an exclusive, new partnership with Gogo, the world’s leading in-flight connectivity service. Through the partnership, T-Mobile customers will be able to send and receive unlimited text and picture messages, and even get visual voicemail, on any Gogo-equipped flight on U.S.-based airlines – that’s more than 75% of domestic flights carrying close to 300 million people last year.

And again this new service is absolutely free to all customers of the Un-carrier. Starting September 17, just enable Gogo in-flight texting once, then you can message just about anyone from anywhere you’ve got Gogo. See www.t-mobile.com/gogophones for steps to enable Gogo in-flight texting and a list of compatible smartphones.

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Avatar for Chance Miller Chance Miller

Email: Chance@9to5mac.com

Chance currently writes for both 9to5Google and 9to5Mac, in addition to 9to5Toys.