FCC Agrees to New Relay Requirements

Editor: In a move that the hearing loss community widely applauded, the FCC recently voted to improve the state relay services. We're also waiting with baited breath for their pending ruling on hearing aid compatible (HAC) wireless phones.

Here's the coverage from NVRC News. (BTW, the emphasis on Virginia is because that's where NVRC is located. Much of what is reported also applies to your state.)

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Thursday, May 15, 2003 was a big day for telecommunication relay services at the Federal Communication Commission. All five of the Commissioners voted to approve new rules for relay services such as Virginia Relay that will make it possible for relay users to have many new features. Among them are pass through caller ID, which enables you to see the number of the person calling, instead of the relay phone number, and call release, which enables a TTY user to have the relay service withdraw from the conversation if the call is picked up by someone else using a TTY. Other new services include such features as call forwarding, speed dialing, 2-line Voice Carry Over, 2-line Hearing Carry Over. Each state contracts for its relay services (Virginia's contract is with AT&T) and state contracts will now be requiring that the provider offer these features. If you're not familiar with these and other helpful features which help bring relay calls much closer to the "functional equivalency" of voice-to-voice calls required by the Americans with Disabilities Act, just ask us. NVRC will be happy to provide more information.

These are long overdue improvements for telecommunication relay services that had been brought to the attention of the FCC Commissioners on numerous occasions during the past few years. They are now official changes to the mandatory minimum standards. Unfortunately the underlying problem with relay service regulations still has not been addressed. Technology changes very rapidly -- witness the introduction of Internet Protocol (IP) relay, video relay, and CapTel, which have offered tremendous improvement in telecommunications for deaf and hard of hearing persons. Unfortunately these and other technology under development must go through a lengthy process of petitioning for reimbursement when used for relay calls, a process that requires the providers to expend a great deal of money up front not just for product development but also for offering free trials to show consumers the advantages of the technology. Such a lengthy and costly process can't help but have a chilling effect on them and other innovators who do not have deep pockets.

The Commissioners also clarified requirements for emergency calling through relay services and responded to a number of relay-related petitions. The FCC issued a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to get input on outreach, how relay centers are to operate in the event of a disaster, the applicability of a number of technological advances, and whether they should modify the eligibility criteria for providers who seek to be reimbursed from the TRS Fund.

These new developments were particularly satisfying for NVRC, which has been actively involved in educating the Commissioners, submitting public comments, and working with other advocates from across the U.S. for improved relay services. We are happy to see the issue of outreach funding to make the public more aware of relay services, as we were among those actively pushing for it. The Northern Virginia Community Roundtable, a coalition of area nonprofit organizations supported by NVRC, has already successfully fought for outreach funding in Virginia with help from Del. Robert Marshall and VDDHH, but much more is needed. While a recent survey showed that residents in many Northern Virginia communities were among the most familiar in the state to know about relay services, one can hardly shout for joy when a top score still means about 80% of the residents are still in the dark.

We are hopeful that the FCC will also issue a ruling very soon that will require cell telephones to be compatible with hearing aids. An article by Jeffrey Silva of RCR on May 12, 2003 says that the FCC is expected to rule in the next month or so on whether mobile phone operators should be required to make digital handsets hearing aid compatible. The article also says there are indications that the FCC is leaning toward phasing it in. We assume this means that digital phone handsets would be given a set time period to become accessible, an approach they took to requiring television programs to being closed captioned. It's high time too. Legislation was passed in 1988 that required telephones to be hearing aid compatible. May the phase-in period be a very short one.

"Approximately 8 million citizens have hearing aids," Silva wrote in his article. "With mobile phones -- used by 145 million consumers -- becoming a substitute for landline telephones, federal regulations suddenly find themselves under pressure to deal directly with a major domestic policy issue in America -- disability access -- which could help shape the legacy of FCC Chairman Michael Powell.

(Thanks to Karen Peltz Strauss and members of TAN)