AT&T responded to dozens of questions from FCC...

AT&T responded to dozens of questions from FCC officials in a meeting Friday about its proposed IP transition trials, an ex parte filing posted Wednesday said (http://bit.ly/1p7FVmU). The agency was concerned with what would happen to customers in areas that will not have access to wireline service, or whose assistive devices don’t work with the new technology. “It is still considering its options,” AT&T said. AT&T won’t be able to offer wireless home phone via Voice over LTE in the trial areas until a certain technology is available, it said. The name of that technology was redacted in the public version of the filing. “After HD voice is deployed, the audio quality for VoLTE calls is expected to be superior to traditional [plain old telephone] service,” the telco said. AT&T has “not calculated the number of existing subscribers nationwide that are located in areas outside of AT&T’s wireline IP network footprint and ineligible for Wireless Home Phone due to network coverage issues,” it said. “Doing so would be very difficult and time-consuming.” AT&T is working on developing technology to support “standards-based analog health monitoring, home alarm, fax” and credit card validation devices over wireless services, it said. If a customer’s TDM-based “assistive technology device” does not work with U-verse voice or its wireless home phone service, the customer would be asked to obtain an IP-compatible device, AT&T said. If that’s not feasible, “we will work with the customer to develop a solution, which may include restoring TDM-based service” to the customer during the trial, it said. During the trial, AT&T will continue to make existing bare copper loops available for wholesale customers, it said. Payphone coin lines will be excluded from the IP transition trial, but AT&T is monitoring call volumes in the trial wire centers to determine “whether and when to transition such lines off,” it said.