AlwaysOn, a Wi-Fi provider is set to launch a new Wi-Fi voice calling service in South Africa. It will compete against mobile operators such as Vodacom, MTN, Telkom and Cell C.
The company provides secure Wi-Fi Internet through 2 200 hotspots in the country and it offers roaming capabilities in over 110 countries at more than 1 million hotspots.
BusinessDay reported that AlwaysOn “is repositioning itself as a Wi-Fi-led service provider that has plans to offer its customers more value-added services”.
The report mentioned that the new voice-over-Wi-Fi service will launch this week, and the company hopes the new service will grow its subscriber base.
In May 2014, Internet Solutions announce it had increased its shareholding in AlwaysOn to 100%. The company acquired its original interest of 51% in AlwaysOn during 2009.
Internet Solutions offered voice services for many years, which means it has the technology and expertise to launch voice-over-Wi-Fi.
Htxt reported that AlwaysOn customers will be issued with a 0870 number and 100MB of data per day to make calls.
It also reported that “Hotspot 2” technology will be used for the service. This will give users the ability to switch between networks for calls.
The pricing and other details on the service are expected to be made public soon.