The FCC refined its Telecom Relay Service (TRS) rules at the Comm...

Directing the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau to increase its TRS outreach but declining to allow use of the TRS fund to pay for such a campaign. (3) Granting a Sprint petition by declaring that providing access to pay- per-call services through 711 calls is allowed under the FCC’s rules. (4) Denying petitions asking for waiver of the rule that prohibits TRS communications assistants from refusing to handle calls that are part of legal depositions or other state legal proceedings. It also denied petitions seeking “cost parity” between toll calls via payphones made by TRS users and those made by non-TRS users. (5) Partially granted petitions clarifying a requirement that TRS facilities route emergency wireline TRS calls to an “appropriated” PSAP. The FCC asked for public comment on several TRS issues, including the appropriate cost recovery methodology for VRS and whether IP relay and VRS should be mandatory TRS services offered 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. Comrs. Copps and Adelstein partially dissented. Copps said he was disappointed that the order affirmed a bureau decision to “slash in half the VRS compensation rate with less than 24 hours notice.” He said he also “found troubling the conclusion that some forms of non-shared language TRS are not eligible for reimbursement,” which he said hurts Latinos. Adelstein praised one part of the order that he said offered support to TRS service providers seeking priority status for restoration in emergency situations. However, he said he also was concerned that the order “declares all non-shared language TRS services to be ‘value-added’ and ineligible for funding, particularly in the case of VRS.”