Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/03/14/2019-04040/ip-cts-improvements-and-program-management
Timestamp: 2019-03-21 08:02:27
Document Index: 229765176

Matched Legal Cases: ['§\u200964', '§\u200964', '§\u200964', '§\u200920', '§\u200964', '§\u200964', '§\u200964']

This document has a comment period that ends in 39 days. (04/29/2019) Submit a formal comment
CG Docket Nos. 03-123 and 13-24
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2019-04040 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2019-04040
You may submit comments, identified by CG Docket Nos. 03-123 and 13-24, by either of the following methods:Start Printed Page 9277
This is a summary of the Commission's Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM), CG Docket Nos. 03-123, 13-24; FCC 19-11, adopted on February 14, 2019, and released on February 15, 2019. The Report and Order in document FCC 19-11 will be published elsewhere in the Federal Register. The full text of this document is available for public inspection and copying via the Commission's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS), and during regular business hours at the FCC Reference Information Center, Portals II, 445 12th Street SW, Room CY-A257, Washington, DC 20554. To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an email to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice) or (202) 418-0432 (TTY).
3. To eliminate unnecessary inconvenience to IP CTS registrants, without a significant increase in the risk of waste, fraud, and abuse, the Commission proposes to allow IP CTS providers to provide service to new and porting users for up to two weeks pending the completion of identity verification by the Database administrator. The Commission believes this change is needed to ensure that Start Printed Page 9278service to new and porting IP CTS users can be commenced efficiently and without undue delay or disruption of service, in order to facilitate competition and ensure the functional equivalence of this service. Compensation for calls placed or received by the user during this period would be paid only if the user's identity is ultimately verified.
5. The emergency call handling requirements for IP CTS apply only to certain forms of this service. For the predominantly used form of IP CTS, where the voice connection for a call is established using an ordinary wireline telephone service and there is a separate internet connection made solely for the IP CTS user to receive captions, the telephone company or voice-over-internet-Protocol (VoIP) service provider is responsible for delivering 911 calls and location information to emergency authorities. However, where IP CTS is configured for web and wireless access, such that the user can initiate a call by connecting to the IP CTS provider via the internet, the IP CTS provider is responsible for handling 911 calls in accordance with § 64.605(a) of the Commission's rules.
6. The Commission proposes to amend the Commission's rules to simplify the handling of 911 calls placed by IP CTS users who initiate calls via the internet—generally, web- and wireless-based IP CTS—by eliminating any need for IP CTS providers to involve their CAs in 911 call handling and to collect and transmit unnecessary information. The Commission also seeks comment on whether any changes are needed in the scope of the 911 call handling rule applicable to IP CTS. If so, the Commission seeks comment on whether and how such changes would affect the 911 responsibilities of underlying service providers.
10. The Commission believes these amendments are likely to save precious time during an emergency. Less time will be wasted in obtaining unnecessary information from callers, and 911 call takers will be able to reconnect with the caller more rapidly rather than waiting for the TRS provider to reestablish the call. The Commission also believes that implementing this proposal will impose minimal costs—and may actually produce net cost savings, given the elimination of unnecessary CA involvement in call set-up and the reduced amount of information that an IP CTS provider will need to collect and transmit during an IP CTS call. Multiple IP CTS providers have sought waivers of the Commission rules to implement the changes the Commission proposes, suggesting that in their evaluation, the benefits of the proposal outweigh the costs. The Commission seeks comment on these proposals and its underlying assumptions. The Commission also seeks comment on the length of time that would be needed for IP CTS providers to come into compliance with the modified rule.
12. Scope of the Rule. The Commission also seeks comment on how to define the category of IP CTS providers that would be subject to the proposed 911 call handling rule. Should the Commission continue to define this class as “providers of forms of IP CTS that allow users to initiate calls by contacting the provider over the internet”? Are there alternative formulations that would be more appropriate? For example, should the Commission define this provider class as “IP CTS providers that provide the voice connection, as well as captions, for an IP CTS call”? To the extent that the current definition is changed to narrow (or expand) the category of IP CTS providers covered by § 64.605 of the Commission's rules, how would that affect the 911 obligations of other service providers—such as the underlying carriers that transmit IP CTS calls—and what are the costs and Start Printed Page 9279benefits of such a shift in responsibility for 911 calls?
13. Should an IP CTS provider that provides a voice connection, e.g., through a VoIP service or commercial mobile radio service (CMRS), be deemed a VoIP or CMRS reseller subject to the emergency call handling rules applicable to such resellers? To the extent that an IP CTS provider is deemed to be a VoIP or CMRS reseller, the provider's 911 location determination obligations are likely to be affected. For example, if an IP CTS provider is deemed a VoIP reseller, the provider would be required to determine a 911 caller's location by means of the caller's Registered Location, rather than by asking the caller for his or her location before routing the call to a PSAP, as provided for in § 64.605(a) of the Commission's rules. Similarly, an IP CTS provider that is deemed a CMRS reseller would be required to determine a 911 caller's location in accordance with § 20.18 of the Commission's rules. In the event that an IP CTS provider is deemed to be a VoIP or CMRS reseller, what rule modifications, if any, would be necessary to maintain the IP CTS provider's obligation to provide captions—and to give such calls priority over other captioned calls—for 911 calls initiated by its registered users, as well as for callbacks by the 911 PSAP?
2. Amend § 64.604 by redesignating paragraphs (c)(5)(iii)(D)( 5) through (7) as paragraphs (c)(5)(iii)(D)(6) through (8) and adding paragraph (c)(5)(iii)(D)(5) to read as follows:
(5) Additional call data required from internet protocol captioned telephone service providers. In addition to the data required by paragraph (c)(5)(iii)(D)(2) and (3) of this section, internet protocol captioned telephone service providers seeking compensation from the Fund shall submit a unique account identifier identifying the user receiving captions for a call, such as the electronic serial number of the internet protocol captioned telephone service device, the user's log-in identification, or the user's email address.
3. Amend § 64.605 by revising paragraph (a)(1) and adding paragraph (a)(3) to read as follows:
4. Amend § 64.611 by revising paragraph (j)(2)(iv) to read as follows:
(iv) By the date of initiation of service to an IP CTS user or device, or one year after notice from the Commission that the TRS User Registration Database is ready to accept such information, whichever is later, IP CTS providers shall submit to the TRS User Registration Database the registration information required by paragraph (j)(2)(i) or (iii) of this section. Calls from or to registered IP CTS users or devices whose registration information has not been populated in the TRS User Registration Database by the applicable Start Printed Page 9281date shall not be compensable, and an IP CTS provider shall not seek TRS Fund compensation for such calls, provided however, that after the applicable date, IP CTS providers may provide service to new users for up to two weeks after the user's registration information has been populated in the TRS User Registration Database while the TRS User Registration Database user verification process is pending and will seek TRS Fund compensation for such calls that are otherwise compensable only if the new user is ultimately verified as eligible to use IP CTS by the TRS User Registration Database administrator.