Internet-based telecom relay service providers must redirect users’ old toll-free numbers to their new 10-digit geographic numbers in the service management system 800 database, not the Internet-based TRS numbering directory, the FCC clarified Tuesday. Toll-free numbers and 10-digit numbers shouldn’t be directed to the same uniform resource identifier in the TRS directory, the commission said. Under the 10-digit numbers plan, all Internet-based TRS users must obtain 10-digit numbers by Nov. 12, however users are allowed to keep toll-free numbers as a secondary way to be reached. The FCC said it recognizes that the clarification means that callers wishing to place a direct point-to-point or dial- around call to an Internet-based TRS user will have to use a 10-digit number. “We note, however, that such calls -- like calls to toll free numbers -- impose no additional costs on callers.”

Reform of the FCC should include more focus on issues important to deaf individuals, said executives from consumer groups and telecom relay service providers. It’s unclear how FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski views TRS issues, because he’s said little about them in public. But some matters, like the November transition to 10-digit phone numbers for Internet-based TRS, could demand significant FCC attention in the next few months.

The FCC should affirm that only one telecom relay service provider may assign phone numbers to any one device or IP address, and consider permitting only one default provider per geographic location, said Sorenson Communications. In a petition late Tuesday at the FCC, the big TRS provider said the proposed rules would advance public safety and prevent customer confusion. The FCC already requires that only one TRS company provide all numbers associated with a specific Uniform Resource Identifier to reduce the likelihood of conflicting 911 registered location data. Even so, said Sorenson, “some providers -- and some users -- have taken the view that the rules permit multiple providers to assign different telephone numbers to a single videophone.” Since one device can have only one URI, “it would appear impossible for multiple providers to assign numbers to a single device without violating the Commission’s rules,” the company said. It’s also problematic when multiple providers assign numbers to a single IP address used by multiple devices, Sorenson said. Under such an arrangement, only one device will ring, potentially confusing consumers, it said. Finally, “the notion of having multiple VRS providers at a single location is oxymoronic,” Sorenson said. “By definition, users should have a single default VRS provider that is responsible for providing 911 access and for routing all inbound and outbound calls to or from a particular location.” With a one-default-provider-per- location rule, consumers could still change their default provider, and dial around to use services of competitors, it said.

Carriers urged the FCC to mandate captioned telephone relay service, in comments Monday refreshing the record on a four-year-old petition revived last month (CD June 12 p6). AT&T backed a rulemaking, saying “the time is right to review” the matter. “While CTS is currently a valuable form of [telecom relay service], it will likely become more valuable in the future, as the demographics of the United States continue to shift to a population with a greater percentage of senior citizens,” the company said. Sprint Nextel said the FCC already has a sufficient record supporting a CTS mandate, and issuing a rulemaking notice would only cause further delay. CTS is “the only functionally equivalent PSTN-based TRS service for individuals ‘who become hearing impaired later in life,'” and the lack of a CTS mandate “has produced some untoward effects,” the company said. Three states refuse to make the service available for intrastate and interstate calling, while others restrict availability to hard-of-hearing citizens and impose conditions “contrary to the TRS standards which the FCC has found are necessary to achieve [functional] equivalency,” it said. And at least one state wants to impose a condition on CTS providers “that will all but destroy the transparency of CTS,” it said. However, the California Public Utilities Commission said it opposed “another federal mandate which likely would require California to raise its surcharge on end-user billings in a time of great fiscal crisis for this state.” California “fully intends to continue to provide CTS at the pace we have set for deploying the service,” but could only support a mandate if “the FCC intends also to ensure full federal payment of all CTS costs the states will incur,” the commission said.

Legal action by relay provider Sorenson is “on the table” if the FCC goes ahead with a proposal to reconfigure rates for video relay services, Mike Maddix, the company’s regulatory affairs manager, said in an interview. The commission is considering an early change to rates used to determine compensation for VRS under the interstate telecom relay service fund. The agency is currently following a three-year interim rate plan set by the National Exchange Carrier Association in 2007. In comments last week, Sorenson said abandoning the three-year plan would be “arbitrary and capricious,” and possibly unconstitutional (CD July 8 p3). Taking the FCC to court is a “last resort,” but the company has had success challenging commission orders in the past, said Maddix. He cited a recent appeals court victory on TRS lobbying rules (CD June 8 p3).

The FBI warned in a notice Wednesday of a new fraud scheme involving telecom relay services. The FBI has recently received several reports of fraudsters exploiting auto repair shops by using TRS to request services for a vehicle, the bureau said. “The fraudster claims the vehicle has to be shipped to the shop and requests the repairs and shipping fees be charged to a credit card,” it said. “The charges initially go through without any complications, but unbeknownst to the business, the credit card is fraudulent or stolen. The business is then directed to wire the money to the shipper to cover the shipping costs. After the money is wired, the business is notified of the fraudulent credit card and forced to bear the loss.”

As the FCC mulls changing the reporting date for Form 499-A, it should consider the impact on programs that cull information from the filing, said the National Exchange Carrier Association. In comments this week, NECA said it didn’t object to a petition by Alexicon Telecommunications Consulting to move the due date to September 1, from April 1 (CD June 9 p9). But it said the FCC should recognize the revision could affect the interstate telecom relay service fund and cost recovery mechanisms for numbering administration and long-term number portability. NECA, which administers the TRS fund, said delaying the form filing date “would potentially require a delay in TRS filings and funding periods until the fourth Quarter of each year.”

A possible FCC decision to reconfigure video relay service rates may be illegal, said Sorenson Communications, the biggest U.S. VRS provider, in comments this week at the FCC. The commission is considering an early change to rates used to determine compensation for VRS under the interstate telecom relay service fund (CD June 26 p6). The agency is currently following a three-year interim rate plan set by the National Exchange Carrier Association in 2007.

Speech Communications Assistance by Telephone, Inc. urged the FCC to measure Speech-To-Speech calls in session minutes, not conversation minutes, when reimbursing for STS calls. The non-profit organization made its comments in a filing responding to FCC requirements for Telecom Replay Service providers to measure calls in conversation minutes. SCT also urged providers to offer more outreach to increase usage. Limiting reimbursement to conversation minutes “unfairly penalizes” providers and discourages outreach to STS users as providers must devote resources to the entire call, not just the conversation, it said. STS calls may not begin conversation as quickly as other TRS calls because of the slow speech of people with speech disabilities and the necessity of instructing the call assistant to interact with the user, the group said.

The FCC extended by more than four months the deadline for people with hearing problems to register 10-digit phone numbers with Internet-based telecom relay service providers. In an order Monday, the FCC said TRS providers may continue to connect calls by unregistered users until Nov. 12. The original deadline, June 30, was criticized by many telecom relay providers (CD May 1 p5), which pointed to unresolved technical problems and low consumer awareness.