**Before the**

**Federal Communications Commission**

**Washington, D.C. 20554**

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| In the Matter of                 | * | CC Docket No. 90-571         |
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| TELECOMMUNICATIONS RELAY         | ) |                              |
| SERVICES AND THE AMERICANS WITH  | * |                              |
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| DISABILITIES ACT OF 1990         |   |                              |
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**ORDER**

**Adopted:** August 18, 2000 **Released:** August 23, 2000

By the Deputy Chief, Common Carrier Bureau:

1.  On August 20, 1999, the Common Carrier Bureau (\"Bureau\") suspended
    enforcement of the Federal Communications Commission\'s rule
    requiring carriers' telecommunications relay services (\"TRS\") to
    be capable of handling coin sent-paid calls by August 26, 1999
    (\"coin sent-paid requirement\").[^1] The Bureau\'s one-year
    suspension of enforcement of this requirement will expire on August
    26, 2000. In this Order, we suspend enforcement of the coin
    sent-paid requirement for an additional nine months, until May 26,
    2001.

2.  Under the Commission\'s rules, TRS must be capable of handling any
    type of call normally provided by common carriers, including coin
    sent-paid calls.[^2] The coin sent-paid requirement was initially
    due to go into effect on July 26, 1993.[^3] Prior to the effective
    date, however, the Bureau concluded that providing TRS coin
    sent-paid service was technically infeasible[^4] and suspended
    enforcement of that requirement.[^5] In conjunction with the
    suspension of the coin sent-paid requirement, the Bureau adopted an
    Alternative Plan in August 1995.[^6] The Alternative Plan requires
    common carriers and TRS providers to provide: (1) free local TRS
    payphone calls; (2) use of calling or prepaid cards with rates
    equivalent to or less than those that would apply to a similar
    non-TRS call made using coin sent-paid service; and (3) programs to
    educate TRS users about alternative payment methods and to make
    calling or prepaid cards available to TRS users. The Alternative
    Plan was modified by the 1997 Suspension Order.[^7] The modified
    Alternative Plan includes the requirement that carriers improve
    efforts to educate TRS users about how they can reach relay service
    centers from payphones using either calling or prepaid cards at
    rates that are equivalent to or less than coin call rates.[^8]

3.  Upon review of the record in this proceeding, the Bureau concluded
    in the 1997 Suspension Order that provision of coin sent-paid
    services through TRS centers was still not technically feasible and
    that no technological solution appeared imminent.[^9] Therefore, the
    Bureau stated that it intended to recommend that the Commission
    conduct a rulemaking to examine the issue of whether there should be
    a modification to the Commission\'s requirement that TRS be capable
    of handling all calls, including coin sent-paid calls.[^10]

4.  We do not anticipate that final rules governing TRS users\' access
    to payphones will be adopted by August 26, 2000, which is the date
    on which suspension of enforcement of the coin sent-paid requirement
    expires. Therefore, we are continuing the suspension of the coin
    sent-paid requirement for nine months, until May 26, 2001, or until
    such time as the Commission adopts final rules governing TRS users'
    access to payphones, whichever is earlier. The Commission continues
    to develop a record on the coin sent-paid requirement and the Bureau
    anticipates that a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking will be
    issued in the near future. During the suspension of the enforcement
    of the coin sent-paid requirement, we direct carriers and TRS
    providers to continue to make payphones accessible to TRS users
    under the terms of the Alternative Plan, as modified and set forth
    in the 1997 Suspension Order.

5.  Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to the authority contained in
    sections 0.91, 0.204, 0.291, and 1.3 of the Commission\'s rules, 47
    C.F.R. §§ 0.91(a), 0.204, 0.291, 1.3, that enforcement of the
    requirement that telecommunications relay services be capable of
    handling coin sent-paid calls, as required by 47 C.F.R. §
    64.604(a)(3), IS SUSPENDED until May 26, 2001, or until such time as
    the Commission adopts final rules governing TRS users' access to
    payphones, whichever is earlier. This Order is effective upon
    release.

6.  IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that common carriers providing telephone voice
    transmission services, and TRS providers, shall continue to make
    payphones accessible to TRS users pursuant to the terms of the
    Alternative Plan set forth in the 1997 Suspension Order.

> FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
>
> Yog R. Varma
>
> Deputy Chief
>
> Common Carrier Bureau

[^1]: *See Telecommunications Relay Services, and the Americans with
    Disabilities Act of 1990*, CC Docket No. 90-571, Order, 15 FCC Rcd
    6675 (Com. Car. Bur. 1999) (*1999 Suspension Order*).

[^2]: Coin sent-paid calls are calls made by depositing coins in a
    standard coin-operated public payphone. *See* 47 C.F.R. §
    64.604(a)(3); *Telecommunications Services for Individuals with
    Hearing and Speech Disabilities, and the Americans with Disabilities
    Act of 1990*, CC Docket No. 90-571, Order on Reconsideration, Second
    Report and Order, and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 8 FCC
    Rcd 1802, 1803-04 (1993).

[^3]: 47 U.S.C. § 225(c) (1996); *Telecommunications Services for
    Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities, and the Americans
    with Disabilities Act of 1990*, CC Docket No. 90-571, Report and
    Order and Request for Comments, 6 FCC Rcd 4657 (1991).

[^4]: The technical difficulty exists because a relay call actually
    involves two separate calls, one from the customer to the relay
    center, and a second call from the relay center to the called party.
    During the first leg of the call, the local exchange carrier or the
    payphone itself performs two tasks: assesses the appropriate charge
    for coin calls, and handles coin collection and return functions.
    The TRS centers, however, are not equipped to perform these
    functions for the rest of the call.

[^5]: *Telecommunications Services for Individuals with Hearing and
    Speech Disabilities, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of
    1990*, CC Docket No. 90-571, Order, 8 FCC Rcd 8385 (Com. Car. Bur.
    1993) (*1993 Suspension Order*); *Telecommunications Services for
    Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities, and the Americans
    with Disabilities Act of 1990*, CC Docket No. 90-571, Order, 10 FCC
    Rcd 12775 (Com. Car. Bur. 1995) (*1995 Interim Suspension Order*);
    *Telecommunications Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech
    Disabilities, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990*, CC
    Docket No. 90-571, Memorandum Opinion and Order, 10 FCC Rcd 10927
    (Com. Car. Bur. 1995) (*Alternative Plan Order*). The suspension was
    extended six times, and the most recent extension expires on August
    26, 2000. *See* *1993 Suspension Order*, 8 FCC Rcd 8385; *1995
    Interim Suspension Order*, 10 FCC Rcd 12775; *Alternative Plan
    Order*, 10 FCC Rcd 10927; *Telecommunications Services for
    Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities, and the Americans
    with Disabilities Act of 1990*, CC Docket No. 90-571, Order, 12 FCC
    Rcd 12,196 (Com. Car. Bur. 1997) (*1997 Suspension Order*);
    *Telecommunications Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech
    Disabilities, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990*, CC
    Docket No. 90-571, Order, 13 FCC Rcd 15453 (Com. Car. Bur. 1998)
    (1998 Suspension Order); *1999 Suspension Order*, 15 FCC Rcd 6675.

[^6]: *See Alternative Plan Order*, 10 FCC Rcd 10927.

[^7]: *1997 Suspension Order*, 12 FCC Rcd 12196, 12203.

[^8]: *Id*.

[^9]: *Id.,* 12 FCC Rcd at 12202.

[^10]: *Id.,* 12 FCC Rcd at 12204.