No major changes were made to the FCC's final NPRM on expanding the contribution base for internet-based telecommunications relay service, we found in our comparison to the draft. Commissioners voted to include video relay service and IP relay service during their meeting last week and said they intend to revisit funding arrangements in the future because VRS is now the second-largest TRS program (see 2011180058).

The Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau is seeking comment on petitions by IDT Telecom and T-Mobile for reconsideration of parts of the FCC’s 5-0 September order cutting IP captioned telephone service rates (see 2009300057). IDT says, "because the Commission reduced the IP CTS compensation rate for the current 2020-21 TRS Fund Year, the Commission also should have reduced the applicable Fund contribution factor,” per Thursday's public notice: T-Mobile, on behalf of Sprint, “asserts the Commission did not have a reasoned basis for adopting a single cost-based rate rather than a tiered rate structure and did not adequately consider certain costs.” Comment dates are to come in the Federal Register.

The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau sought comment Thursday on Sorenson and CaptionCall’s application for certification to provide IP captioned telephone service supported by the TRS Fund. Comments are due Dec. 21, replies Jan. 5 in docket 03-123.

FCC members agreed 5-0 to seek comment on revised internet-based telecom relay service rules, expanding the TRS fund contribution base for internet-based TRS of video relay service and IP relay service. Only Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Mike O’Rielly had statements on the NPRM, which they didn’t read at Wednesday's meeting. O’Rielly said the agency doesn’t go far enough. The NPRM hasn’t been controversial, with no filings since it circulated three weeks ago. Democrats, who will control the agenda next year, had no statements.

The FCC released its draft order Wednesday reallocating the 5.9 GHz band to sharing with Wi-Fi and cellular vehicle-to-everything, with no set-aside dedicated to short-range communications (DSRC). Other items were also posted. The order is considered a win for wireless ISPs and Wi-Fi advocates. ITS America said it will fight. The Department of Transportation is reviewing the order, a spokesperson said.

The lead item at the FCC’s Nov. 18 commissioners’ meeting would reallocate the 5.9 GHz band for Wi-Fi and cellular vehicle-to-everything, with no set aside for dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), which has occupied the band for 20 years (see 2010270061). Pai also proposed votes on internet-based telecommunications relay service (TRS) rules, program carriage disputes, a proposed unified license for numerous satellite and blanket-licensed earth station operations and a draft NPRM seeking comment on use of the 17.3-17.8 GHz band for satellite downlinks. Pai said the NPRM also would propose including the 17.3-18.3, 18.8-19.4, 19.6-19.7, 27.5-28.35 and 28.6-29.1 GHz bands in an “extended Ka-band,” with routine license application processing criteria for earth stations communicating with geostationary orbit satellites.

The FCC posted items for commissioners’ Sept. 30 meeting Wednesday, including on spectrum items targeting the use of 3.45-3.55 GHz for 5G, long sought by carriers, and rewriting the rules for the 4.9 GHz band. NTIA weighed in on 3.45-3.55 (see 2009090058). Drafts were also circulated on an order cutting IP captioned telephone service rates. Chairman Ajit Pai laid out the agenda Tuesday (see 2009080068).

The FCC extended temporary waivers through Nov. 30 for telecom relay service providers, citing the COVID-19 pandemic (see 2005140056), said an order from the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Wednesday. The waivers apply to the speed-of-answer requirement, at-home video relay service (VRS) call-handling rules, VRS subcontracting restrictions, and provisions of the emergency call handling rule, the order said.

Oppositions are due Sept. 14, replies Sept. 29, on Sprint Relay’s petition for partial reconsideration of an FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau order adopting compensation rates for telecommunications relay services, as well as TRS fund requirements and contribution factors, for the 2020-21 Fund Year. Sprint objected to a “decision to set the efficiency factor for IP Relay equal to inflation under the Commission’s price-cap-like methodology” and the denial of its request for exogenous cost recovery, said a notice in Monday's Daily Digest in docket 03-123.

The FCC unanimously approved orders eliminating dated rules for telephone relay services and broadcast antenna siting, before Thursday's commission meeting, said orders and a deletion notice Wednesday. Early approval for the items -- considered noncontroversial -- was expected (see 2008040063). The TRS order eliminates requirements on separate long-distance plans -- no longer commonly used by the phone industry -- and ends a requirement that state TRS certifications be published in the Federal Register. The broadcast antenna siting order eliminated decades-old, little-used rules requiring stations share unique antenna locations.