The Iowa Utilities Board OK'd a contract for state telecom relay services and captioned telephone relay service to Hamilton Relay, the IUB said in a news release Wednesday. The contract is for Jan. 1, 2017, to Dec. 31, 2019, and may be extended for three years, it said. The board didn't say how much the contract is worth.

The Iowa Utilities Board OK'd a contract for state telecom relay services and captioned telephone relay service to Hamilton Relay, the IUB said in a news release Wednesday. The contract is for Jan. 1, 2017, to Dec. 31, 2019, and may be extended for three years, it said. The board didn't say how much the contract is worth.

Communication Service for the Deaf urged the FCC to grant "reasonable" waiver requests from entities needing video-enabled 10-digit telephone numbers (TDNs) to provide direct sign-language video communications for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. CSD said the commission in the near future "should broaden access" to the telecom relay service (TRS) numbering directory to include telecom carriers and interconnected VoIP. "There is no communication experience that is purer and as fulfilling when people are able to communicate directly with one another," CSD said in reply comments posted Friday in docket 10-51 on VTCSecure's waiver petition to allow direct sign-language support services to access the TRS directory. "But for as long as the Commission does not take steps to allow the larger community of hearing individuals, businesses, and government entities to obtain Video-Enabled TDNs, it is a benefit that is denied to Relay Users. ... CSD urges the Commission to work towards a more permanent solution to enable every telecommunications user to video-enable their TDNs, breaking down the VRS 'walled garden' and bringing TDN dialing of videophones into the mainstream." VTCSecure filed a reply responding to initial comments in which consumer groups and Gallaudet University generally supported its petition and video relay service providers opposed it (see 1608180036).

FCC staff granted Sprint and Hamilton Relay temporary waivers from "two mandatory minimum requirements" for providers of traditional telecom relay service (TRS), speech-to-speech relay service (STS), and captioned telephone service (CTS). The rules "require TRS providers to allow users to have long distance calls carried by their preferred long distance carrier and to offer the same billing options (such as collect, calling card, and third party billing) traditionally offered by wireline telephone companies," said a Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau order in docket 03-123 Wednesday. "These two requirements are temporarily waived for providers of traditional TRS, STS, and CTS, to the extent that the providers do not assess a toll charge for long-distance calls. Each waiver remains in effect for two years, or until the effective date of a Commission rulemaking or other decision as to the continuing application of the requirement to traditional TRS, STS, and CTS, whichever occurs first."

VTCSecure's bid to boost direct sign-language support services received a mixed reaction in comments posted Wednesday and Thursday in FCC docket 10-51. Consumer groups and Gallaudet University generally supported and video relay service (VRS) providers opposed VTCSecure's waiver petition to allow providers of direct sign-language (SL) support services to access the telecom relay service (TRS) numbering directory (see 1607070003). The consumer groups "conditionally support" the VTCSecure request and "urge the Commission to (1) classify direct SL customer support service, as defined by Petitioner, as TRS before a provider of such service is permitted access to the TRS Directory and (2) require providers of direct SL customer support service to comply with consumer protection rules applicable to VRS providers with access to the TRS Numbering Directory," said Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, plus the National Association of the Deaf, Cerebral Palsy and Deaf Organization, the National Association of State Agencies of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and others. They said they weren't addressing VTCSecure's assertion its service meets the TRS definition. Gallaudet said it agreed with the petition's premise to enable and facilitate direct sign-language calling. "If done correctly, staffed by deaf individuals who have appropriate signing skills and experience with the culture that they are serving, providing direct sign language communications to registered users of [VRS] would constitute a huge step up over what sign language users currently experience in their communications with businesses and government entities when they have to go through a VRS interpreter," the university said. VRS providers resisted the petition. "Although the Providers recognize the benefits of direct sign-language customer-support services, expanding access to the Numbering Directory to non-VRS providers would create significant security and interoperability challenges that must be considered before doing so," said ASL Services Holdings (Global VRS), Convo Communications, CSDVRS, Purple Communications and Sorenson Communications. "These issues should be addressed in a comprehensive rulemaking proceeding which appropriately considers the technical, security, and cost issues of expanding access to the Numbering Directory -- not through a waiver that sets aside the current rules only for a single company."

The National Emergency Number Association said the transition from text telephone (TTY) to real-time text (RTT) technology is critical, but the FCC should take into account concerns of 911 call centers. NENA recommended a phased rollout to address public safety concerns. Industry'smajor concern has been that the FCC not micromanage how carriers deploy RTT, but NENA raised another matter (see 1607260020).

FCC staff opened a pleading cycle on a VTCSecure petition seeking changes to allow providers of direct sign-language support services to access the telecom relay service (TRS) numbering directory. Initial comments are due Aug. 17, replies Sept. 1, said a Wireline Bureau and Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau public notice in docket 10-191 in Tuesday's Daily Digest. Direct sign-language communications between the deaf and customer-service representatives of large companies would increase "functional equivalence" for the deaf and hard of hearing, save the TRS fund tens of millions of dollars (relay services use sign-language interpreters) and employ deaf persons as customer-service representatives, VTCSecure had said (see 1607070003).

VTCSecure asked the FCC to allow providers of direct sign-language support services to access the telecom relay service (TRS) numbering directory. About 10 percent of video relay service (VRS) calls, which use a sign-language (SL) interpreter to relay voice communications to the deaf and hard of hearing, go to just 100 customer-service phone numbers in large corporations and government agencies, said a VTCSecure petition for waiver and declaratory ruling filed in docket 03-123 Wednesday. Such interactions would more closely resemble regular phone conversations -- increasing "functional equivalence" mandated under the law -- if the customer-service representative and the deaf consumer could communicate directly using sign language rather than through an SL interpreter, said the petition. It said the service also would save the TRS Fund tens of millions of dollars annually and employ deaf persons as customer-service representatives. But providers of direct SL customer-support services need access to the TRS numbering directory to obtain routing information and so VRS providers will know calls to customer-service numbers should be handled as point-to-point video calls without an interpreter, the petition said. The commission also should require VRS providers to include direct SL customer-support service providers on their "white list" of known IP domain names they have agreed to recognize as valid for routing point-to-point video calls, it concluded.

VTCSecure asked the FCC to allow providers of direct sign-language support services to access the telecom relay service (TRS) numbering directory. About 10 percent of video relay service (VRS) calls, which use a sign-language (SL) interpreter to relay voice communications to the deaf and hard of hearing, go to just 100 customer-service phone numbers in large corporations and government agencies, said a VTCSecure petition for waiver and declaratory ruling filed in docket 03-123 Wednesday. Such interactions would more closely resemble regular phone conversations -- increasing "functional equivalence" mandated under the law -- if the customer-service representative and the deaf consumer could communicate directly using sign language rather than through an SL interpreter, said the petition. It said the service also would save the TRS Fund tens of millions of dollars annually and employ deaf persons as customer-service representatives. But providers of direct SL customer-support services need access to the TRS numbering directory to obtain routing information and so VRS providers will know calls to customer-service numbers should be handled as point-to-point video calls without an interpreter, the petition said. The commission also should require VRS providers to include direct SL customer-support service providers on their "white list" of known IP domain names they have agreed to recognize as valid for routing point-to-point video calls, it concluded.

FCC staff adopted telecom relay service per-minute compensation rates that had been proposed by TRS fund administrator Rolka Loube Associates (see 1605100030). As proposed for the coming funding year, total annual funding was set at $1.14 billion, with carriers to contribute 1.86 percent of their interstate and international (long-distance) telecom revenue to the fund, said the order from the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau in docket 03-123 listed in Friday's Daily Digest. Starting July 1, "the per-minute compensation rates for interstate and Internet-based TRS, other than video relay service (VRS), shall be: (1) for interstate traditional TRS, $2.6245; (2) for interstate Speech-to-Speech relay service (STS), $3.7555; (3) for interstate captioned telephone service (CTS) and Internet Protocol captioned telephone service (IP CTS), $1.9058; and (4) for IP Relay, $1.30," said the order. "For VRS providers with more than 500,000 monthly minutes, the per-minute VRS compensation rates for the period from July 1, 2016, through December 31, 2016, are: Tier I (a provider’s 1st 500,000 monthly minutes), $4.44; Tier II (a provider’s 2nd 500,000 monthly minutes), $4.44; and Tier III (a provider’s monthly minutes in excess of 1 million), $3.68. The applicable per-minute VRS compensation rates for the period from January 1, 2017, through June 30, 2017, are: Tier I, $4.06; Tier II, $4.06; Tier III,$3.49. For VRS providers with 500,000 or fewer monthly minutes, the per-minute VRS compensation rates are: For the period from July 1 to October 31, 2016, $5.29; for the period from November 1, 2016, to April 30, 2017, $5.06; for the period from May 1 to June 30, 2017, $4.82."