Source: https://www.fcc.gov/document/telecommunications-relay-services-and-speech-speech-services-individuals-hearing-and-spee-6?fontsize=
Timestamp: 2015-06-03 22:12:40
Document Index: 34103207

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 401', '§ 225', '§ 225', '§ 64', '§ 64', '§ 64', '§ 64']

Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities; E911 Requirements for IP-Enabled Service Providers | FCC.gov
DA 09-2634 Before the
Adopted: December 24, 2009
By the Chief, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, and Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau:
In this Order, the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau and the Wireline Competition Bureau extend the waivers of certain telecommunications relay services (TRS)1 mandatory minimum standards for Video Relay Service (VRS)2 and Internet Protocol (IP) Relay Service3 that will expire on January 1, 2010, pursuant to the 2008 TRS Waiver Order. 4 Specifically, we extend the waivers for six months until July 1, 2010, conditioned upon the filing of a status report due April 16, 2010, of the following requirements: (1) one-line Voice Carry Over (VCO), VCO-to-TTY, and VCO-to-VCO; (2) one-line Hearing Carry Over (HCO), HCO-to-TTY, and HCO-to-HCO; (3) call release; (4) pay-per-call 1 TRS was created by Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). Pub. L. No. 101-336, § 401, 104 Stat. 327, 336-69 (1990); 47 U.S.C. § 225. TRS enables a person with a hearing or speech disability to access the nation’s telephone system to communicate with voice telephone users through a relay provider and a communications assistant (CA). A CA relays the call back and forth (e.g., from text to voice, and voice to text) between the calling party and called party. See 47 U.S.C. § 225(a)(3) (defining TRS); 47 C.F.R. § 64.601(21). The TRS mandatory minimum standards govern the provision of relay service. See 47 C.F.R. § 64.604.
2 VRS is a form of TRS that that enables the VRS user and the CA to communicate in sign language via a video link, rather than through text. VRS presently requires a broadband Internet connection. See generally Telecommunications Relay Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities, CC Docket No. 98-67, Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 15 FCC Rcd 5140, 5152-54, at paras. 21-27 (March 6, 2000) (2000 TRS Report & Order) (recognizing VRS as a form of TRS); 47 C.F.R. § 64.601(26) (defining VRS). 3 IP Relay is a form of TRS that permits individuals with hearing or speech disabilities to communicate in text messages via a computer (or other similar device), rather than with a teletypewriter (TTY) and the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). See Provision of Improved Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities, CC Docket No. 98-67, Declaratory Ruling and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 17 FCC Rcd 7779 (April 22, 2002) (IP Relay Declaratory Ruling & Second FNPRM) (recognizing IP Relay as a form of TRS); 47 C.F.R. § 64.601(13) (defining IP Relay).
4 Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities, CG Docket No. 03-123, Order, 23 FCC Rcd 18334 (Dec. 24, 2008) (2008 TRS Waiver Order).
DA 09-2634
(900) calls; (5) types of calls;5 (6) equal access to interexchange carrier;6 and (7) Speech-to-Speech (STS).7 2.
In addition, we extend the waiver of certain mandatory minimum standards for default Internet-based TRS providers that are unable to meet such standards for newly-registered Internet-based TRS users using customer premises equipment (CPE) from a former default provider for which the new default provider does not have access to the technical information about the CPE to comply with the standards.8 As discussed below, the Commission issued a waiver of these requirements in its December 2008 Second Internet-based TRS Order.9 Similar to the other extensions addressed in this Order, we grant this extension until July 1, 2010, or until the Commission addresses pending petitions regarding CPE portability, whichever comes first.10
The Commission’s TRS regulations set forth operational, technical, and functional mandatory minimum standards applicable to the provision of TRS.11 To be eligible for compensation from the Interstate TRS Fund, a TRS provider must offer service in compliance with all applicable 5 The requirement has been waived for IP Relay as long as providers allow calls to be placed using calling cards and/or provide free long distance calls. See 2008 TRS Waiver Order, 23 FCC Rcd at 18338, para. 12 n.40.
6 The requirement has been waived indefinitely for IP Relay. See Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilitie