Earlier this month, the Federal Communications Commission granted AT&T Mobility a waiver related to voice-over-Wi-Fi calling as it applies to people with hearing problems; competitor Verizon Communications is now following suit.
AT&T’s waiver is valid until Dec. 31, 2017, and was granted following a complaint lodged by AT&T Mobility that competitors Sprint and T-Mobile US are using Wi-Fi calling that doesn’t conform to accessibility rules for those hard of hearing, specifically the FCC teletypewriter functionality, which enables text-based communication over a telephone call.
This whole issue began in June when, rather than offer TTY with its Wi-Fi calling, AT&T Mobility developed a service for the hard of hearing called real time text. The company then filed the solution with the FCC to ask for a waiver. However, there was a six-week delay before the FCC issued its public notice that then initiated a 45-day comment period.
Sprint and T-Mobile US never asked for a waiver prior to launching Wi-Fi calling without support for the hearing impaired. Verizon, following AT&T’s lead, has now asked the FCC for the same waiver its chief competitor received.
“The commission should grant Verizon the same waiver relief under the rules that it granted to AT&T,” Verizon’s petition stated. “Verizon is a nationwide provider of wireless services with over 103 million retail post-paid connections. Verizon also offers IP-based advanced calling services that enable VoIP calling and other advanced features, including video calling, that holds great potential for the usability of IP-enabled wireless services and devices for the deaf and hard-of-hearing.
“As the commission and others have recognized, however, wireless IP networks do not reliably transmit TTY signals. Given that TTY support is not achievable for IP-enabled wireless services, Verizon has initiated its own effort to develop and deploy successor real-time text technology for Verizon customers and services migrating away from digital CMRS networks and services to IP-enabled services and networks that support services and features like VoLTE and Voice over Wi-Fi. However, it will take time to develop and deploy RTT technology. Verizon plans to deploy RTT as a successor technology to TTY since, unlike TTY, RTT will work reliably in an IP environment. Verizon also supports a review of Commission rules to ensure that the rules will accommodate a smooth transition.”
