After receiving the go-ahead from the FCC, AT&T, the second largest service provider in the US yesterday announced the immediate availability of its WIFi Calling service, joining its rivals, T-Mobile and Sprint that have both launched the service earlier this year. The service will initially be available to customers with eligible devices that are running the iOS 9.
I turned on Wi-Fi calling on my AT&T-based iPhone now that this feature is available. http://t.co/cI4Hk5BYI7 pic.twitter.com/gj7peHBZ5d
— Julio Ojeda-Zapata (@ojezap) October 8, 2015
AT&T recently sent a letter to the FCC chairman, Tom Wheeler, requesting special clearance to commercially launch WiFi calling service as it claims that the service essentially falls under FCC's 'voice calling networks' requirements which are mandated to provide support for teletypewriter, also known as TTY devices.
Once set-up, customers will use Wi-Fi Calling automatically in places where there is limited or no cell signal but which provide access to a Wi-Fi connection.