A TTY machine. Image: Wolfgang Stief/Flickr
AT&T has called out T-Mobile and Sprint for jumping the gun on rolling out Wi-Fi calling , which lets you make calls over an internet connection rather than a traditional wireless connection. The company sent a complaint to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler stating that its two competitors had released those features without receiving a waiver to exclude support for teletypewriters (TTY), which are primarily made for deaf and hard of hearing users.The crux of AT&T's argument was that the wireless networks had to either adapt to relatively old tech (TTY doesn't function reliably over Wi-Fi connections), innovate so that it does function well over an IP network, or request a waiver. AT&T is seeking the latter option while requesting a temporary waiver for TTY support from the FCC.AT&T says Sprint and T-Mobile did none of these things. While the companies were marketing Wi-Fi calling, AT&T says it was working on putting out real-time text features, which give deaf users closed-captioning-esque features which end up sounding more conversational than having a delayed computerized voice shout out messages.And while TTY is fairly antiquated, for some users, it's the only option to do things like call into 911 call centers. Texting is only an option for users close to the 6 percent of 911 call centers that can actually route SMS messages, and if you're in a signal-poor area, good luck getting that through. Wi-Fi calling offers a relatively reliable way, and if not, at least a second option for people where existing telephone structures simply can't hold up.T-Mobile did not respond to a request for comment. Sprint said they had "nothing to add."
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