The FCC asked for comments by Sept. 10 on a Sprint request for approval to offer pay-per-call services to telecom relay service (TRS) users via a special 900 number. The Commission said Sprint’s petition contended that pay-per- call services couldn’t be accessed via 711 as required. Sprint said in the petition that “711 uses a toll-free dialing sequence and pay-per-call sequences can’t be accessed using a toll-free dialing sequence,” the FCC said. Sprint would offer the 900 number without charge. Replies are due Sept. 25.

The FCC Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau said July 1 the deadline for state and telecom relay service (TRS) providers to submit their annual consumer complaint log summaries for the 12-month period ending May 31.

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.”

The National Exchange Carrier Assn. (NECA) proposed increasing the size of the Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) Fund to $132.4 million, $42.1 million more than the current fund. NECA said the 46% increase was required because of a “significant demand” for IP relay service and rising demand and cost of providing video relay service. The TRS enables persons with hearing and speech disabilities to make phone calls to people using standard telephones. The cost is funded by telecom carriers, based on their interstate and international revenue. NECA administers the TRS fund for the FCC.

Comsat no longer is required to contribute to the Telecom Relay Services (TRS) Fund, the FCC said in an order released Thurs. Consequently, the Commission ordered that Comsat be refunded the more than $500,000 it had contributed to the fund. The former Common Carrier Bureau had ordered that part of the company’s revenue from leasing satellite capacity would go to the fund supporting hearing and speech- impaired individuals. Comsat contributed to the fund at the same time as it argued that its services didn’t qualify as an interstate telecom service, the FCC said. It said that in reviewing Comsat’s arguments, it found the company was correct because “the satellite operator ‘merely provides its customer with the exclusive right to transmit to a specified piece of hardware on the satellite.'”

In accordance with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), FCC adopted latest order eliminating coin-sent paid requirement and encouraging specific outreach and education programs to inform telecom relay services (TRS) users of their options when placing calls from payphones. Commission said carriers needn’t provide coin sent-paid TRS calls from payphones because “it is infeasible to provide coin sent-paid relay service through payphones at this time, and the coin sent-paid functionality is not necessary to achieve functional equivalence.” In joint statement, FCC Chmn. Powell and FCC Comr. Abernathy said they were “pleased that carriers have agreed to make permanent the interim plan requiring them to carry local TRS calls from payphones free of charge. A key part of the permanent plan is the consumer outreach and education component.” However, they said, if those voluntary outreach measures didn’t succeed in giving TRS users information they needed, they would support adoption of mandatory outreach requirements. Comr. Copps said he supported Commission’s maintaining rule requiring carriers to provide free local TRS calls. However, he said “the [Commission] majority” didn’t require that carriers provide alternatives for toll calls at rates equal to or less than coin rate. He said it eliminated entirely requirement that carriers provide coin TRS calls from payphones and made it “even more difficult for consumers by eliminating requirements for outreach to inform consumers of the least expensive option.”

Sprint introduced Internet-based relay service for deaf and hard-of-hearing people Mon., service made possible by FCC decision in April to make Internet relay eligible for reimbursement under Telecom Relay Service (TRS) fund. Service enables handicapped persons to converse with hearing people without purchasing TTY machine that’s used in traditional relay service. Users dial ISP to access relay center via Web site. Agents at relay center enable conversations by reading deaf person’s typed message to hearing person on telephone at other end of conversation. Agent then types in hearing person’s response so deaf person can read it on computer screen.

FCC ordered hearing before administrative law judge to determine whether Publix Companies illegally collected more than $6 million from national Telecom Relay Service (TRS) Fund by seeking reimbursements without providing TRS service. Publix is group of 5 associated companies. Hearing -- date and place haven’t been set yet -- will look at whether Publix is entitled to any of TRS money requested or received, whether its common carrier operating authority should be revoked, whether fine is warranted and, if so, how much. TRS provides telephone services to people with hearing or speech disabilities and TRS Fund reimburses carriers for cost of providing interstate TRS. FCC said random audit in 2001 by National Exchange Carrier Assn. (NECA), which administers TRS, “raised significant questions of whether [Publix Companies] relay operations qualified them for the TRS Fund payments that they had requested and received.” For example, Publix’s relay operation handled few calls, mostly among Publix employees, and operated only Mon.-Fri. during business hours, rather than 24 hours daily, 7 days a week. Average length of calls and volume of minutes reported by Publix also was “suspicious,” Commission said. FCC Enforcement Bureau subpoenaed Publix records in June 2001 and told NECA to withhold funding. FCC said “it appears that the Publix Companies did not actually provide TRS as defined by the Commission’s rules, thus raising a threshold issue about their eligibility for compensation… Moreover, there appears to be pervasive misconduct and violations of Commission rules by the Publix Companies.”

FCC asked for comments by July 11, replies by July 26, on whether it should attempt to devise method for allocating telecom relay service (TRS) calls as intrastate or interstate (98-67). Issue follows decision (CD April 19 p5) that IP- based TRS providers are eligible for reimbursement from Interstate TRS fund.

FCC voted at agenda meeting Thurs. to make Internet- based relay services eligible for reimbursement under Telecom Relay Service (TRS) fund. IP relay service is similar to traditional TRS, but part of its route runs over Internet rather than phone line. TRS enables deaf or otherwise impaired people to communicate by dialing relay center on special TTY (teletypewriter/text phone) and typing in message which worker at relay center then reads to party on other end of call. With IP relay, impaired person would type and send message over computer rather than TTY, which means individual wouldn’t have to buy TTY machine. Relay center is accessed via Web site. FCC’s vote classified IP relay as part of TRS and cleared way for its broader usage by authorizing reimbursement of costs. “The FCC must not allow regulatory artifacts to slow innovation by limiting support for TRS to older technologies,” FCC Comr. Abernathy said. “My only regret is that we did not act sooner to provide flexibility for this service innovation.” FCC also asked for comment on whether it should devise method for allocating TRS calls as intrastate or interstate and, if so, how to do it. TRS is offered by service providers that are reimbursed through TRS fund, financed by fees on common carriers. Sprint spokesman said company had been developing software and interface to enable IP relay and now would “move quickly to implement this service in the states we serve.” WorldCom spokeswoman said FCC’s action was “great news” for IP relay which, she said, was product MCI created and was first to market.