Verizon Gets Green Light on FCC Waiver Needed for Wi-Fi Calling
Verizon Wireless is the only major carrier in the United States that has not introduced Wi-Fi calling, but it appears that could change in the near future as the FCC today approved the company's request for an FCC waiver [PDF] that will allow it to move ahead with its plans.
Like AT&T, Verizon applied for an FCC waiver to delay implementing a teletypewriter (TTY) service for deaf and hard-of-hearing people until December 31, 2017. Verizon plans to use real-time text (RTT) as an alternative and the waiver will allow it to avoid offering a TTY service until its RTT technology is deployed and operational.
On its website, Verizon says it plans to support Wi-Fi calling "in the future," but has not specified when Wi-Fi calling could be implemented. When AT&T was approved for Wi-Fi calling, the feature was turned on within days of receiving the go ahead from the FCC.
Wi-Fi calling will allow Verizon customers to make phone calls over Wi-Fi in situations where their cellular signal is low, automatically transitioning between Wi-Fi and a cellular connection as needed. AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile have all already implemented Wi-Fi calling, but Sprint and T-Mobile have done so without obtaining the necessary waivers from the FCC.
Popular Stories
A series of screenshots seemingly show Verizon's AI chat assistant answering detailed questions about the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, just hours before Apple's announcement event.
The screenshots were shared privately with MacRumors by an X user who says the responses came from the "Ask Verizon" AI assistant built into the carrier's app. The conversation is timestamped September 8...
Apple today announced a new subscription initiative that turns paid iCloud+ subscriptions into a broader services bundle in more than 100 countries.
In select countries, Apple says every paid iCloud+ plan, including the cheapest 50GB tier, now includes Apple TV and Apple Arcade "at no additional cost," while family sharing extends the storage, TV and Arcade access to up to five people....
Apple released iOS 27 this week, and despite the company's focus this year on refining its flagship operating system and nixing bugs, there are still many additional features to explore, not least of which is Apple's new context-aware Siri, re-tooled for the generative AI era.
Which iPhones Support Every iOS 27 Feature?
This year's major iPhone software update isn't all about AI, though,...
