Why does iphone use cellular data to contact internet when wifi is available?

If I leave Mobile Data (or Cellular Data) enabled on my iphone,
I find that the phone uses my carrier phone service to access the internet about 10 times
per day. The accesses tend to be mostly very small data transfers (say about 10KB).
I have no idea why these transfers are taking place, but I can see them on my Vodofone bills.
Since I am rarely away from my home wifi facility, I would also expect any access to
use wifi as a first choice, and notify me if there was a need to use cellular access.
So I have 2 questions. What are these data transfers that I am not explicitly requesting,
and why are these data transfers not made through free home wifi as a first choice.
Apple has advised me to turn off mobile data unless I am away from my free wifi.
Mike

Thanks for the reply. I haven't used visual voicemail. My preference would be for any data transfer to be done on wifi when wifi is available. Battery life is not currently an issue for me. I do think that it shoud be possible to find out which service or app is causing the data transfer. Although I am not near my data limit at present, I do think that I have a right to know why a service, for which
i pay, is bring used.

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Why does iphone use cellular data to contact internet when wifi is available?

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