FCC CONSIDERS NATIONAL SECURITY STATUS OF TRS FACILITIES
Telecom relay services (TRS) used by consumers with hearing or speech disabilities could be integrated into the FCC’s homeland security efforts, the Commission said at its agenda meeting Thurs. The Commission tentatively concluded that those facilities should receive the same National Security/Emergency Preparedness (NS/EP) priority under the Telecom Service Priority (TSP) System as LECs. However, “our efforts are in no way complete,” Chmn. Powell said: “Developments central to our national security bring new considerations in our efforts to ensure functionally equivalent communications for hearing-impaired and speech- impaired individuals.”
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The FCC modified several rules on mandatory minimum standards for TRS and asked for comments on the National Security Status of TRS facilities, emerging technologies and public outreach program and its funding. The Commission asked the FCC’s Consumer Advisory Council to review issues involving a TRS outreach campaign emphasizing that common carriers must provide educational and outreach materials under FCC rules. TRS is mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act to enable people with speech or hearing disabilities to access telecom and information services. The Commission requires telephone companies to provide TRS nationwide on a 24 hour-a-day, 7 day-a-week basis at no extra cost to callers.
Comr. Copps concurred in part and said asking for more comments before embarking on a national awareness campaign “delays unnecessarily” the start of effective national TRS outreach efforts: “We have ample support to begin a nationwide outreach effort right now and we ought to be doing exactly that.” He said the Commission’s current rules “have not effectively ensured that callers are aware of TRS,” and lack of awareness was “adversely affecting the quality of TRS.” For example, he said, the Commission found that callers using relay service “experience an unacceptably large number of hang-ups” because those receiving TRS calls aren’t familiar with the service. He also said 50%, in many areas 75%, of people with hearing disabilities were unemployed because “employers are uncomfortable using, or unwilling to use, TRS for business transactions.” Copps urged the Commission to complete its Sec. 255 proceeding on accessibility to equipment and services, address compatibility problems between wireless phones and hearing aids and encourage a robust dialog between telecom companies and the hearing- and speech-impaired communities.
Powell said the Commission must ensure that “Americans with disabilities are empowered to participate fully in… digital migration and reap its benefits equally with their neighbors.” He said the agency also would ensure that “our regulations encourage the use of existing technology and do not discourage the development of improved technology.” Comr. Adelstein, describing himself as an “ardent supporter of universal service,” said disability rights issues “go hand-in-hand with universal service in that the Commission must strive for universal, or functionally equivalent, access to all telecom products and services.” He said the issue remained “central” to him as a former Senate staff member who worked on the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Social Security Disability Insurance program: “Disability rights always should remain in the forefront of our decisions, as Congress intended.” Comr. Abernathy said TRS implementation was “technically very complex, and therefore it deserves close attention by the FCC… It’s imperative that we remain diligent in ensuring that our rules” keep the pace with technological development.
The Commission asked for comments on: (1) What technological advancements could further the goal of functionally equivalent telecom services for people with hearing and speech disabilities. (2) Whether TRS facilities should receive a National Security and Emergency Preparedness Priority Status commensurate with the one given to LEC facilities in the event of emergency to ensure functional equivalency of TRS users. (3) How outreach materials and efforts should be distributed effectively to the public, not only to persons with disabilities. (4) Whether eligibility and certification standards should be adopted for interstate TRS providers.
The FCC required that emergency TRS calls be routed to the “appropriate,” rather than the “nearest,” Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) to avoid delaying appropriate emergency assistance, and that any database used to route calls be updated “as frequently as the PSAP database used for non-TRS calls.” The Commission defined “appropriate” PSAP for wireline calls as the designated PSAP to which a direct call from the particular number would be delivered, but it asked for comment on how to define appropriate PSAP for wireless TRS calls.
The Commission determined there was no barrier to TRS facilities’ accessing and applying Signaling System 7 (SS-7) technology to TRS that would allow TRS users to use benefits such as caller ID, which would speed up the calls and allow the efficient transfer of essential data for emergency calls through TRS. The FCC required that interstate and intrastate providers offer new types of TRS calls, including 2-line voice carry over (VCO) used by persons with poor hearing but clear speech abilities and 2-line hearing carry over (HCO) used by those able to hear but with impaired speech. Finally, it required that TRS providers offer call release, 3-way calling and speed dialing through TRS facilities. It said it also wanted to ensure that critical safety-of-life applications such as E911 were functional and accessible over the TRS platform.