According to AT&T, Competitors Launched WiFi Calling without FCC Approval

One of the many new features that iOS 9 offers is Wi-Fi calling. Early in August, this feature was in beta testing and limited to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus (today it will also work on the 6s). Basically, it allows users to place a traditional phone call over a Wi-Fi network instead of over their cellular network.

During the beta testing process AT&T began to roll out support for the new Wi-Fi calling feature. If the function was available in their area, users would have seen a pop-up with information including a disclaimer, privacy rights and billing terms. The final screen included a message from AT&T suggesting that Wi-Fi calling could be used in areas with poor cellular coverage.

The question on AT&T customers’ minds today is if they were onboard with beta testing, why is it that the feature is available on Sprint and T-Mobile networks, but not on AT&T’s network? It seems that the answer to that question lies with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

At the end of September, AT&T filed a letter with FCC chairman Tom Wheeler stating that it was ready to provide Wi-Fi calling services, just as soon as the FCC offers a waiver. The waiver request revolves around regulatory TTY rules, which aid in communications for the hearing impaired. AT&T is still waiting for the FCC to grant a waiver so that it can use real-time text (RTT) instead of TTY.

AT&T suggested to the FCC that RTT should be recognized as meeting requirements for the deaf while T-Mobile feels that Rich Communication Services (RCS) should be universally accepted. Earlier this year, T-Mobile began to implement RCS under its Advanced Messaging brand.

AT&T’s choice to add support for a real-time-text solution, however, has not been accepted as a proper replacement for TTY. James Ciccioni, who is AT&T's legal senior vice president, believes that Sprint and T-Mobile began to offer Wi-Fi calling before the FCC granted a support waiver for teletypewriter communications.

In the letter to the FCC he wrote "Because the commission has not granted AT&T's waiver petition we are not in a position to provide Wi-Fi calling services to our customers even while our competitors provide those services in defiance of the commission's rules."

It is interesting that AT&T has decided to not offer Wi-Fi calling until the FCC provides a formal waiver for TTY communications. It will also be interesting to see if the FCC will take any action against either Sprint or T-Mobile for offering the feature before receiving a waiver.

When Chris Ziegler, reporter for the Verge, brought the issue to T-Mobile CEO John Legere's attention via Twitter, the executive responded, “We didn’t launch Wi-Fi we Unleashed it!” Given that confidence, it really will be interesting to see what the FCC’s response will be.