VRS/TRS Rate Order Seen as Possible Item for FCC Action in June
The FCC might look to adopt new video relay service (VRS) rates at the June 22 meeting of commissioners, industry representatives told us Tuesday. Commissioners also could address other telecom relay service (TRS) rates, including IP captioned telephone service rates for the near term, said an industry representative, who believes the agency wants to act by the end of June because the new VRS/TRS funding year begins July 1. The tentative agenda for the June meeting is due Thursday. The FCC didn't comment.
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Convo Communications said it needs a VRS "emergent tier rate" of $5.29 per minute, as Rolka Loube Associates, the TRS fund administrator, recently proposed along with other rate recommendations (see 1705110023). A $5.29 rate for the four years starting July 1 would give Convo "a fair and reasonable opportunity to continue operations and allow it to invest to grow past 500,000 minutes monthly by the end of the rate plan," said a Convo filing posted Tuesday in docket 10-51 on discussions with staffers of the Office of Managing Director and the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. "The TRS Fund Administrator has provided the Commission with information showing that a lesser rate would be unsustainable for Convo."
ZVRS Holding, parent of CSDVRS and Purple Communications, discussed VRS rate proposals with an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai in a phone call. "The discussion was consistent with those described" in a May 22 submission, said a Tuesday ZVRS filing. The previous filing noted ZVRS "alarm" that Rolka Loube cost data "was wrong," leading to a filing the company said corrected the record.
ZVRS also said its proposal with Convo and GlobalVRS "will more closely correspond to each providers costs than the rates under the glide path [of 2013-2017] while reducing the total annual cost to the TRS Fund." The joint provider plan would achieve cost savings by further lowering the rate for the high-volume traffic tier affecting Sorenson Communications, the largest VRS provider.
Sorenson and others last week submitted various filings, including comments on Rolka Loube's proposals, in the docket. Replies on those proposals are due Thursday.