FCC gives Verizon the all-clear to proceed with Wi-Fi calling

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Verizon is putting forth the effort to make WiFi calling possible on its network. The FCC just approved the petition the company recently submitted requesting a waiver to allow for the capability.

In this regard, Verizon is following the footsteps of AT&T, who was issued an identical waiver from the FCC earlier this month.

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The reason FCC approval is required for WiFi calling is that WiFi technology currently doesn’t support teletypewriter, an ancient service intended to help the hearing impaired. T-Mobile and Sprint implemented WiFi calling by simply ignoring the rules surrounding teletypewriter support, a maneuver AT&T was quick to point out to the FCC when the governing body was slow to respond to the carrier’s outstanding petition.

AT&T eventually had to make the issue public before the FCC responded in a meaningful capacity and granted the carrier the ability to use WiFi calling through 2017 under strictly described conditions. The FCC seems to have turned a blind eye to T-Mobile and Sprint’s actions, but invited other carriers lacking WiFi calling, like Verizon, to make a petition like AT&T had.

It’s worth noting that Verizon included a cheeky footnote in the appeal stating that “it is Verizon’s position that neither the existing rules nor the AT&T Waiver Order require such a waiver,” but it submitting a petition “out of an abundance of caution.”

The FCC granted Verizon the waiver, allowing Verizon to support fully integrated WiFi calls. Once this capability is made live, you may use any existing WiFi connection to place calls in the absence of reliable cell signal.

Pope Francis thinks you should put away your smartphone at the dinner table

We’ve all done it – some more than others, but we’ve all done it at one time or another. Smartphones, and mobile devices in general, have become such an integral part of our lives that many of us don’t bat an eyelid when we use our smartphones at the dinner table. Most of us don’t need reminding that this is a pretty terrible habit – after all, the dinner table is where most of us have our only interaction with our families – but one very important man to some people has reminded us once again that you should put away your smartphone at the dinner table: none other than Pope Francis himself. The head of the Catholic Church said earlier this week:

“A family that almost never eats together, or that never speaks at the table but looks at the television or the smartphone, is hardly a family… Sitting at table for the family dinner, sharing our meal and the experiences of our day, is a fundamental image of togetherness and solidarity.”

“When children at the table are attached to the computer or the phone and don’t listen to each other, this is not a family, this is a pensioner.”

While we may not have put it in exactly those words, the Pope does have a point, whether we want to admit it or not. What do you think about Pope Francis’ view on smartphones at the dinner table? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Source: Catholic News Agency via engadget

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