Our first thought upon hearing that Taipei has rolled out a city-wide WiFi telephony network was not “bravo Taipei, get in there” or even “Taipei? Oh don’t tell me, it’s… it’s…” (it’s in Taiwan). Our first thought was, “Can we have what they’re having?”

The short answer is yeah but no but… well, not yet.

The long answer is that the technology is there, but issues of WiFi hot-spot quality need to be ironed out before WiFi calling is a workable reality in UK cities.

It may be some time before you can make a seamless call over WiFi whilst strolling down your average London, Birmingham or Glasgow street. Let alone your average street in Aberfeldy. If you’re the type who pulls a Zidane on your phone if it cuts out for just a few seconds on the train, you may not want to risk your blood pressure with WiFi calling just yet.

“This is certainly pushing the limits of WiFi,” cautioned Phil Marshall, analyst with the Yankee Group. “I expect that the network will have significant challenges in scaling, and that subscribers are going to be disappointed with the system performance.”

Give it a chance, Phil. It may not be too long before the current limitations of WiFi are resolved, which would allow Skype phones to move seamlessly between hotspots - say, as you’re walking down the street or travelling on a bus. We’ll bring you the latest updates as we get them, including news of how the project is working in Taipei.