Today, Telstra announced a new service dubbed “One Number” that will allow customers to use the same phone number and mobile data plan for their phone and wearable device. This means you can finally use your SIM-equipped gadget without relying on your phone. Hurrah!
One of the chief stumbling blocks of smart watches and fitness trackers is that they need to be constantly tethered to your phone. This is especially annoying with SIM-equipped models like the Huawei Watch. To get the most out of these devices, you either need to purchase a separate data plan or keep swapping your SIM between both devices.
Telstra is looking to fix this problem with its new One Number service. As its name indicates, One Number plans will allow you to use compatible wearables independently from your phone.
Here’s the spiel from Telstra:
Telstra is pleased to announce that Australians will soon be able to make and receive phone calls and check and send text messages from their compatible wearable device without needing their smartphone with them, with the launch today by of embedded SIM card technology. The new technology – called Telstra One Number – connects wearable devices directly to Telstra’s mobile network and extends the owner’s smartphone mobile number to the wearable.
The benefit of this is obvious: it allows users to add two mobile devices to a single subscription and connect directly to a mobile network with their secondary device. This is something that many overseas markets already offer, but Australian telcos have been dragging their feet for whatever reason. With the Apple Watch Series 3 just around the corner, it’s good to see Australia’s largest telco getting on board. We’ll be updating the story with pricing and release date details as soon as we get them.
[Via Gizmodo]
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