Can the OBiON app and a 'phablet' without a calling plan be reasonably used

[JeffDB]

in lieu of a cell phone?

I have a low end Android phone with unlimited data and also a Clear Wire mobile hotspot. I'm wondering how convenient or inconvenient it might be to make and receive phone calls on the OBiON app vs just answering or dialing the phone.

My interest was piqued even more when I saw an article on Zerohedge about T-Mobile partnering with Google to offer unlocked phones and no contracts: http://tinyurl.com/b8s5wzd

Would it be feasible to use OBiON on one of those phones and perhaps a mobile hotspot and do away with a mobile calling plan altogether? One of the drawbacks, of course, would be carrying around two devices, and having to make sure batteries on both are charged, but it seems like it might be a pretty good way to have the mobile hotspot do double duty, funneling data back and forth between a phone and a laptop or tablet etc.

Separately, is there much risk of having phone conversations listened in on when using the app over public wi-fi?

[giqcass]

My problem with calling apps in general has been that many of them don't run in the background or they take too long to ring.  Most of them are pretty good for calling out.  I have only had the Obion app installed a few days so I don't have a lot of experience with it specifically but i can say on my phone it seems to put the caller on speakerphone.   Not a desirable thing in many cases.

[psuPete]

My $0.02 -- OBiON is not production quality in terms of availability.  It is often ACQUIRING service and does NOT until restarted (app closed/opened).

Thus if you want to receive calls reliably via OBiON, you will be out of luck.

Placing calls will be somewhat more reliable.

Also, you will have E-911 issues.

Pete