**REMARKS OF COMMISSIONER MICHAEL J. COPPS**

**CELLULAR TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INTERNET ASSOCIATION**

**WIRELESS ACCESSIBILITY WORKSHOP**

**NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA**

**MARCH 14, 2005**

Thank you for that kind introduction and for organizing this critically
important workshop. I'm honored to be here this morning to kick off what
I hope will be a robust discussion of a topic that is very important to
the Country.

I'd like to start by congratulating the people in this room for how far
we've come. First I want to commend CTIA and Steve Largent for their
increased focus on accessibility issues. The first time I met with Steve
we talked about the subject and I could tell that here was someone who
truly cared about accessibility. There are a lot of folks out there who
talk a big game about accessibility, but Steve not only talks the talk
but he walks the walk. There is a long, long way to go---don't get me
wrong---but CTIA and many in the wireless industry are now on the right
path. This workshop is just one example. The meetings CTIA has convened
between disabilities advocates and equipment vendors are another very
promising example. I hope that those will continue, and CTIA will
continue to lend its strong hand to encourage the industry to move in
the right direction.

I also want to thank the industry for its efforts. Cingular and Sprint,
for example, have visited my office often to describe their growing
accessibility efforts. Stan Sigman from Cingular has, on many occasions,
shown me the impressive phones that they offer, and the systems that
they have put in place to coordinate planning with the disabilities
community. I have seen real commitment there. And Sprint has described
the free directory assistance program that they now have in place for
Americans with disabilities, and has shown us their exciting next
generation of accessibility-enhanced phones. It seems that they have
coordinated with the disabilities community at the design stage, which
is so important, and I hope that we hear the announcement of a launch
date for these phones soon.

Most of all, I want to thank the people who represent Americans with
disabilities in front of the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC
is not always the easiest place to deal with. It's hard enough for me on
the inside, believe me! And I've gotten a sense over the past 3-1/2
years how difficult it is for non-traditional stakeholders---the folks
who aren't usually consulted with and who don't have the *Federal
Register* delivered to their doors and who don't have Washington
shops---to make their voices heard. We've made some progress and that's
good. But I am still not satisfied with our efforts to break out of the
inside-the-beltway mentality that can infect our Commission. In spite of
all the hurdles and obstacles, Americans with disabilities have a truly
amazing group of advocates at work for them, advocates who insist that
we pay attention and who won't take "No" for an answer. They work with
the Commission staff assigned to accessibility issues and with the
Commissioners to make sure that we understand the impact of our actions,
or inactions, on the millions of Americans across this country who have
disabilities. To all of you advocates in this office, my deep and
abiding thanks---you have tough jobs---and you do them with distinction,
sometimes with downright heroism.

Still, we have so far to go. Americans with disabilities spend much of
their time fighting for the opportunities for advancement that others of
us just take for granted. As a group, Americans with disabilities are
experiencing---suffering is a better word---over 50% unemployment. In
some areas, the number is as high as 75%. Can you believe that? People
with so much talent, so many skills, such dedication, wanting nothing
more than a chance to be productive members of society, and 75 %
unemployment! That's a disgrace. And, over and above even that, we have
no idea how many people with disabilities are under-employed. Beyond the
obvious economic impact, this disparity is just plain wrong. We should
be embarrassed as Americans that this is still the case. It is all of
our responsibilities to provide the tools to fix this problem.

We have the power to do it. Advances in technology have already made a
huge difference for many people with visual, auditory, and ambulatory
challenges, and technology can do far more. Wireless technologies are a
critical part of this trend. Wireless devices can offer an important
lifeline to public safety for people with spinal cord injuries, as
Marcie Roth from the National Spinal Cord Injury Association explained
to me. They can bring broadband and all of its flexibility to amazing
places like Gallaudet University, as I saw first hand when I visited
there. The right equipment can make all the convenience of mobile phones
available to the deaf and hard of hearing, as my friends Claude Stout
from TDI and Brenda Battat from Self-Help for the Hard of Hearing have
shown me. Advances in wireless technology have given you and me and
millions of Americans new mobility and new access to powerful technology
tools at work and at home. Now they have begun to do the same for people
with disabilities. Just look at what the mobile video communications
offered by Carrier 3 in Sweden have done for people who communicate with
sign language. Working together, we can do even more.

Let me lay out a few ideas for how I think we can do more. We have many
accessibility challenges before us, but I believe that there are four
goals that the FCC, the wireless industry and the disabilities community
together should resolve to do right away. First, we should resolve to
advance our hearing aid and cochlear implant compatibility work at the
FCC and in the industry in a way as to provide certainty for companies
and usable devices for consumers. Second, we should resolve to set in
place systems that guarantee that disabilities representatives and
equipment manufacturers work together at the design stage of wireless
devices so that these devices are more accessible and that these new
technologies reach the right people. Third, we should resolve to venture
outside the traditional ambit of the FCC and establish a public-private
partnership program at the FCC to identify and promote wireless
technologies that will enable more people with disabilities to get into
the workplace. Fourth, all of us need to do better explaining this
problem to our fellow citizens, because national problems are not solved
without national attention. I'll talk about each of these in turn.

***[TRS and hearing aid compatibility]{.underline}***

First, hearing aid and cochlear implant accessibility. Congress
recognizes the unique challenges faced by American's with disabilities
and the unique opportunities that communications technologies promise.
That is why it required that the FCC make phones accessible to people
with hearing aids. As wireless phones became part of the mainstream, and
as these phones became a critical link in the 911 emergency call system,
the FCC decided that wireless phones should be more accessible. So, in
July of 2003, recognizing that industry was moving to digital, the FCC
modified a previous exemption to the HAC rule that we had created for
wireless phones. We required that manufacturers and service providers
make digital wireless phones accessible to individuals who use hearing
aids, according to an ANSI standard. And we set up a schedule to make
this happen.

-   First, by September 2005, manufacturers have to make available at
    least two HAC-compliant handsets for each of the CDMA, TDMA, and GSM
    air interfaces they offer. Carriers providing digital service also
    must make at least two HAC-compliant handsets available for each air
    interface they offer. And nationwide carriers must ensure that
    either two handsets or a quarter of all of their handsets are
    HAC-compliant, whichever is larger.

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-   Second, by September 2006, manufacturers must make available at
    least two HAC-compliant handset models with telecoil coupling for
    each air interface they produce. And all carriers providing digital
    services also must make available at least two HAC-compliant handset
    models with telecoil coupling for each air interface they offer.

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-   Third, by February 2008, half of all digital phones must be
    compliant with reduced RF emissions requirements.

In addition, manufacturers must label packages containing compliant
handsets and make information about compliance available in the package
or product manual, and service providers must make performance ratings
of compliant phones available to customers. We also encouraged
manufacturers and service providers to offer at least one compliant
handset that is a lower-priced model and one that has higher-end
features.

All of this means that some important deadlines are coming up. Everyone
therefore needs to work hard. The FCC must act on the petitions before
it. The Commission has received four petitions for reconsideration,
requesting that it reconsider things like the ANSI standard, the 25% and
50% requirement, state enforcement of the HAC Act, and labeling,
testing, and reporting. In February the Wireless Bureau released a
public notice seeking additional comment on the four petitions. We need
to resolve these quickly. In assessing these petitions, I will take
requests for technical flexibility seriously, and will work with
industry and the disabilities community to make the right choices. But I
will not endanger the goal of getting compliant handsets to consumers as
soon as possible. Companies are working very hard every day on this \--
Congress required us to do this \-- and I will not let up on getting it
done.

***[Design collaboration]{.underline}***

Secondly, design collaboration between manufacturers and the
disabilities community. It is in everyone's interest for industry and
the disabilities community to sit down at the beginning of the design of
new handsets, and to hold regular meetings about existing handsets --
through focus groups, advisory panels, and product trials. This
collaboration gives companies insights into what design elements present
problems for Americans with disabilities and what elements make their
lives easier at a stage that something can be done. Incorporating ideas
on the drawing board is far more efficient and economical than either
designing a phone that doesn't work, or having to retrofit an existing
handset. Companies that understand this end up designing better phones,
and gaining access to more and happier customers.

In the past I heard a lot of concerns that this was not happening. But
now I sense a change. I see some companies working closely with various
disabilities groups. They listen to the problems that they are having
with existing phones before starting to design a new phone. And the
results are sometimes spectacular. The new accessible phones that come
through my office today are a vast improvement over what I saw just a
few years ago. And the word I get from the disabilities community is
that more firms are taking the time to make the process work than ever
before.

But the work doesn't stop when a design is finished. Once a product is
delivered, it is important to ensure that people know that it is
designed to be accessible and that the company's sales and help line
staffs are trained in accessibilities features and in troubleshooting.
Even if a phone is designed with great care, if no one knows about the
accessibility features, or if problems that develop are not addressed,
the phone won't realize its potential.

Design collaboration, marketing, and trouble-shooting appear to be
improving every year. But, unfortunately, these improvements are not
universal. We need to take a hard look at the companies and even at the
individual product launches where all this worked well. We need to learn
from these experiences and apply best practices to every company and
every launch. If it is hard for companies to get this information, then
the FCC should step in and provide a forum to make it happen. So let's
celebrate the progress we've made, but also resolve to make further, and
much needed, improvement.

***[The FCC and the disabled workforce]{.underline}***

Next, I want to discuss an idea that is outside of the FCC's typical
regulatory arena. As I mentioned earlier, the unemployment and
under-employment numbers for Americans with disabilities are
unacceptable. No segment of our population should suffer 50% or higher
unemployment. In the case of disabled Americans, I think that together
we can make these numbers better.

Technology can be a great equalizer. The right technology can give
Americans with disabilities tools to pursue jobs that employers today
think are closed to them. Communications technologies are only part of
this vision, but they are an important part. Some of the best and most
brilliant people I have ever met put their energy into building the
wireless industry. Some of them are here today, and to them I say that
you made an industry that didn't exist only a few decades ago into a
giant part of our economy and our lives. You made technology that seemed
like science fiction when I was a kid into something that every kid now
has in their pocket. You -- the engineers and business people who made
this miracle happen -- could use the same talents that built the
wireless industry to integrate Americans with disabilities more fully
into our workforce. Using communications technologies to allow tele-work
for folks with visual, auditory, or mobility challenges would just be
the beginning. But the sky's the limit.

Let's work on this together. The FCC, CTIA, the disabilities groups, and
other relevant federal entities like the Department of Labor, HHS, and
The President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities
should begin by meeting together in informal ways and share ideas on how
to tackle this challenge. Just that might lead to better ideas on how to
address these issues.

If it appears that the idea will bear fruit, the FCC should work with
these other government entities to set up a forum where the disabilities
community can educate us on what the main obstacles to increased
employment are, and industry can suggest where technology can help
people overcome these obstacles. The results of this work might give the
FCC the information and ideas it needs to report to Congress on how the
use of communications technologies can increase the effectiveness of
existing federal disabilities programs, or whether additional funding is
needed to make such technologies available to more people.

***[Telling the story better]{.underline}***

Fourth, and I've saved it for last because I really want you to remember
it, is doing a more effective job in explaining a national problem to a
national audience. We don't meet great national challenges in a vacuum.
Great things are accomplished when we, as a people, understand them and
rise up to meet them. This is a story that must be told. It's only
partly a technological challenge -- that's a tremendously important part
of it, but it's not the whole. It's only partly a story of bureaucratic
under-achievement. It is -- far more -- a people story, a story of
millions of Americans who could and should be contributing their best to
our economy and our society but who, through no fault of their own, are
denied the opportunity to do so. This is something that everyone can
understand. This is something I believe the country would respond to --
if it really appreciated the severity of the problem and the opportunity
for the nation if we fix it.

My Daughter-in-Law, Katie Copps, as some of you know, teaches the
hard-of-hearing at the River School in Washington, DC. She has brought
home to me the human dimension of this problem. She has given me the
chance to really feel the challenge. And she has shown me how much just
one person can accomplish who is motivated by compassion and a
commitment to make a difference. There are many more Katie's at work, I
know, but there are a lot of potential Katie's out there -- people who
offer that great helping hand that epitomizes our Nation when it is
truly tested. So each of us here today -- government, industry, trade
associations, advocates, citizens -- needs to do more to tell the story
because if we don't get the story out, we won't get the kind of
comprehensive solution we need.

So as you meet today, exchange ideas on what more you can do, separately
or together. Maybe it's a series of new public service announcements you
could encourage our media friends to run. I'd offer to help on that.
Maybe it's using talk radio or community television more efficiently.
Maybe it's continuing grassroots forums across America -- I'd help you
on that too. I'll bet you have better ideas than mine, so talk about
them and put them into action. Everyone here -- everyone -- can make a
difference.

***[Conclusion]{.underline}***

My experience throughout my career has been that we make the most
progress with government, industry, and citizens working together rather
than as adversaries. Here is a perfect place to do just that. If you
think it might work, let me know, and I'll suggest it to our new
Chairman, whoever that may be!

Let me stop here. I know a lot of the people in this room. I want to
know a lot more. And I want to work with all of you on all of these
challenges. Together we can move forward on HAC, we can continue to make
gains on design collaboration, we can find new ways to make technology
work to integrate Americans with disabilities more fully into our
workforce and into our society, and we can mobilize the support of the
American people. I feel strongly about these issues, so thanks to CTIA
for giving me the opportunity to give this keynote, and thanks to all of
you for the work you do every day. You really make a difference.