The FCC in recent days approved four items on circulation that will be publicly released soon, including a report to Congress about minorities and women whose delay had prompted criticism by many groups, commission officials said Wednesday. They said the commissioners have approved the report about how the FCC is reducing barriers that minorities and women face entering the media and telecom industries. It had been due at the end of 2009.

Rent-a-Center (RAC) is aggressively expanding its customer-credit business as it adds 300 kiosk-based locations this year, building on its acquisition of TRS (CED Dec 27 p3).

Rent-a-Center (RAC) bought TRS for $75.5 million as it moves to expand its customer-credit business with regional retailers and scales back offering financial services through its stores. The deal, which has closed, was primarily funded from cash on hand, RAC said Thursday. TRS has offered name-brand CE products through retail sales and lease-purchase programs since 1983.

Purple Communications agreed to pay more than $22 million to settle FCC claims that the company overbilled the Telecommunications Relay Service Fund. Under a consent decree that was finalized last week and announced Monday, Purple will pay some $18.5 million back into the TRS Fund, plus another $3.1 million in fines, all over the next five years; “voluntarily” pay $550,000 to the U.S. Treasury, and create a “detailed” compliance plan within 30 days. Purple officials didn’t respond to requests for comment. The FCC began investigating Purple’ predecessor companies in August 2007, according to the consent decree; Enforcement Bureau spokesman Eric Bash said “one or more whistleblowers” came forward to report the company.

The FCC seeks comment on ways to move customers who are deaf from toll-free to local numbers when they use Internet-based telecommunications relay services. The commission said it wants to find a way to let businesses that need toll-free numbers for iTRS keep them but at the same time prevent relay services from automatically assigning 800 numbers for their clients. The commission has also suggested a one-year transition period to make the switch to local service and suggested that TRS fund no longer support toll-free numbers.

Sorenson was alone seeking one compensation rate for all video relay service providers under the interstate Telecom Relay Service fund, in comments at the FCC last week. Sorenson is the biggest VRS provider and is paid the least under the current system. Responding to a notice of inquiry about taking a “fresh look” at the VRS program and reducing fraud, Sorenson’s rivals and consumer groups representing the deaf urged the FCC to maintain the current tiered approach, with some minor changes.

The FCC should ensure that Video Relay Services program changes it suggests don’t affect users’ rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act, said Snap Telecommunications. It’s “extremely concerned” that the wording of a rulemaking notice indicates that calls that originate or terminate overseas might not be compensated in the future, the company said in comments Thursday. “Removing entirely the ability of Americans to use relay to make or receive international calls is in violation of the ADA.” Instead, Snap suggested that iTRS administrator NeuStar incorporate a geolocation software program to block VRS calls that involve only international IP addresses or telephone numbers so the TRS fund doesn’t compensate ineligible calls. Snap also opposed ending calls after two minutes if a caller’s face isn’t visible, if the caller uses a privacy screen or if the call is idle. “Certainly individuals determined to perpetuate illegitimate schemes will easily overcome a ’two-minute’ rule by making token appearances,” it said. If the commission wants a disconnect rule, it should set the time limit at 10 minutes, allow deaf callers to continue through breaks in conference calls and provide notice to the deaf caller that the call is about to be terminated, it said. Snap said it generally agrees with proposed rules on how to handle withheld compensation. It suggested the commission set a time limit of 30 days for a final determination on whether compensation is withheld. It disagreed that providers should prove that minutes are compensable and said certified providers should be prohibited from billing for minutes handled by non-certified “white-label” providers. Non-certified providers should be allowed to operate only if they've applied for certification, Snap said.

Advocacy groups and some smaller providers of telecommunications relay services (TRS) backed Purple Communications’ request for waiver of a rule regulating how users’ phone numbers are mapped in the numbering directory. Sorenson Communications, however, opposed a waiver, saying Purple failed to show special circumstances and that the commission should make changes only with a formal rulemaking. Convo Communications also opposed the request and suggested a rulemaking notice as an appropriate step. Purple asked for clarification or waiver of the rule that requires the numbering directory to have records that map an Internet-based TRS user’s telephone number to the user’s Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). Instead, in order to implement its call forwarding “Follow Me” service, it asked to populate the numbering directory with URIs containing the IP address of its own servers, rather than the customer’s IP address. The request seeks to “avoid compliance with an industry-wide technical standard so that it can implement a feature that may be inconsistent with the FCC’s carefully considered numbering regime,” Sorenson said. The waiver is in Purple’s interests, but not necessarily those of the public, Sorenson said. Sorenson said Purple provided limited information and didn’t explain how a waiver would permit more effective implementation of the system. The commission shouldn’t grant either a provider-specific waiver or an industry-wide waiver, Sorenson said. Granting the request could “undermine the Commission’s comprehensive numbering regime, which involves a delicate balance between several interrelated rules,” it said. Snap Telecommunications and CSDVRS, however, said server routing would allow video phones to be fully functional behind firewalls and in secure environments. “Server routing is in widespread use and is a standard routing method for VoIP connections,” Snap said. It said it has a server routing system “ready today to provide to federal and state government agencies and businesses who have requested it as the only acceptable means of installing video phone technology.” Snap and CSDVRS said server routing would improve the interoperability problems that frustrate customers. “CSDVRS has seen this devolve into some consumers reverting to older [customer premises equipment] technology as distributed by the largest provider (Sorenson) which does not provide forward compatibility, in favor of the more technologically advanced CPE offered by CSDVRS and other providers, simply to avoid interoperability frustrations,” CSDVRS said. A group of deaf and hard-of-hearing advocacy groups also supported Purple’s petition. Hearing individuals have call forwarding services, and the Americans with Disabilities Act says those with disabilities should have the same benefits, it said. At a minimum, the commission should grant the waiver on an interim basis, it said. Convo, though, said Purple didn’t show that its method is the only way to implement call forwarding. Call forwarding is desirable, it said, but Convo and others “have already expended considerable sums in designing and implementing VRS calling and routing platforms to comply with FCC and Neustar rules.” An NPRM is the “most appropriate vehicle” for exploring how to implement call forwarding by all providers, it said. Reply comments on the petition are due July 23.

A senior executive of a relay service provider must certify under penalty of perjury that information submitted for compensation from the Interstate Telecommunications Relay Service Fund is correct, said an interim rule adopted Tuesday by the FCC. The commission said in a Federal Register notice that it adopted the rule without notice or comment “in light of the explosive growth of the TRS Fund in recent years and evidence of fraud against the Fund.” The Justice Department in November charged 26 people with stealing more than $50 million total from the fund (CD Nov 23 p5). The FCC is taking comments on the new rule until Sept. 13. Under the interim rule, a senior executive will need to certify that minutes of use submitted for compensation were handled in compliance with the Communications Act and weren’t the result of kickbacks or other improper payments and that cost and demand data are true and correct. In a separate notice, the FCC reminded providers that TRS payments can be suspended if the providers don’t submit to audits.

Internet disabilities legislation in the House “is well-intentioned but would create enormous burdens on innovators seeking to introduce new products and features,” CEA President Gary Shapiro said after the House Communications Subcommittee approved an amended HR-3101 on Wednesday. Shapiro and HR-3101 sponsor Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., clashed over the bill at a hearing last month (CED June 11 p4).