FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:

March 16, 2001 Michael Balmoris 202-418-0253

> Email: mbalmori@fcc.gov
>
> TTY: (202) 418-1169

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### NEW OPTIONS PROPOSED FOR PAYPHONE CALLS USING RELAY SERVICES

Washington, D.C. -- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has
proposed rules to ensure that individuals can use telecommunications
relay services (TRS) to make calls from payphones. Specifically, the FCC
has proposed new rules to enable a TRS user to pay no more than a person
making a non-TRS call would pay with respect to these calls. TRS is a
telephone transmission service designed to give persons with hearing or
speech disabilities "functionally equivalent" access to the telephone
network.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires common carriers to
provide individuals who have hearing or speech disabilities with
telephone services that are functionally equivalent to those available
to individuals without such disabilities. More specifically, the ADA
requires the Commission to establish functional requirements,
guidelines, and operational procedures for TRS, and to establish minimum
standards for telephone carriers' provision of TRS.

In its *First* *Report and Order on TRS*, the Commission required TRS
providers to handle "any type of call normally provided by common
carriers," and included coin sent-paid calls (calls made with coins from
a standard coin-operated public payphone) in this requirement.
Subsequent concerns about the technical difficulties associated with
handling coin sent-paid calls through TRS centers, however, resulted in
multiple suspensions of the mandate for TRS providers to handle these
types calls. Today's *Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking*
*(Notice)* attempts to address these concerns and make the full range of
payphone services available to TRS users.

In the *Notice* released today, the Commission is proposing that
telephone carriers:

1.  not charge TRS users for making relay calls that would otherwise be
    local from payphones;

2.  enable TRS users to use calling cards, collect or third party
    billing for toll calls from payphones and not charge more than the
    lower of the coin sent-paid rate or the rate for the calling card,
    collect or third-party billing; and,

3.  conduct extensive consumer education programs to educate TRS users
    about their payphone calling options.

TRS uses dedicated equipment and staff (Communications Assistants or
CAs) that relay conversations between persons using text telephones
(TTYs) and persons who use conventional telephones. To access TRS, a TTY
user dials the telephone number of the local TRS center. For a TRS user,
this first step -- the inbound call to the TRS center -- is functionally
equivalent to receiving a "dial tone." The caller then gives the number
of the party he or she wants to call to the CA. The CA in turn places an
outbound voice call to the called party. The CA serves as the "link" in
the conversation, converting all TTY messages from the caller into voice
messages, and all voice messages from the called party into typed
messages for the TTY user. The process is performed in reverse when a
voice telephone user initiates the call.

Other types of relay services use trained CAs to relay conversations for
people with speech disabilities (speech-to-speech relay), and CAs who
know sign language to relay conversations for sign language users (video
relay services.)

Action by the Commission March 13, 2001, by Second Further Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking (FCC 01-89). Chairman Powell, Commissioners Ness,
Furchtgott-Roth, and Tristani

-FCC-

Common Carrier Staff Contact: Pam Slipakoff at (202) 418-7705

Consumer Information Bureau, Office of Disability Rights Contact: Pam
Gregory at (202) 418-2498 (voice); (202) ) 418-1169 (TTY)

Docket No.: CC 90-571

News about the Federal Communications Commission can also be found

on the Commission's web site www.fcc.gov.