Wait times for Sprint services like telecom relay services, captioned phone and IP relay calls may increase during periods of high call volume amid COVID-19, said Global Vice President-Sprint Accessibility Mike Ellis Wednesday. Sprint is complying with all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations and Department of Homeland Security guidelines to ensure employee health and safety, he said. The company hasn't closed any call centers but expects staffing could be affected.

An FCC Disability Advisory Committee resolution seeks changes to how privacy of telecom relay service users is protected. The agency should require that data is stored only as long as necessary to fulfill the requirements of the user registration database, and that records are destroyed immediately thereafter, DAC said Wednesday.

Hamilton Relay supported an FCC NPRM to repeal equal access and billing options requirements as applied to traditional telecom relay service, non-IP forms of captioned telephone service, and speech-to-speech offerings, in comments posted Friday in docket 03-123. "Equal access is unnecessary because Hamilton does not charge any of its users (including its TRS, CTS, and STS users) for long distance services, and increasingly users are migrating to IP-based and wireless services that render equal access inapplicable," the company said. "Forcing Hamilton and other providers to build and maintain the infrastructure necessary to come into compliance with the currently-waived requirements would impose an unnecessary burden." Replies are due Feb. 13.

Comments are due Feb. 13, replies March 16 on an FCC proposal to adopt new rules for the telecom relay service USF program and the national deaf-blind equipment distribution program, says Tuesday's Federal Register on docket 19-309. The rules are consistent with OMB guidelines on government debarment and suspension (see 1911260003).

Comments are due Jan. 30, replies Feb. 13, on an FCC telecom relay service modernization proposal to eliminate equal access and multiple billing requirements from TRS mandatory minimum standards and to cease Federal Register publication of state requests for TRS program certification but continue to publish such on the agency's website and electronic document management system, says Thursday's Federal Register on docket 03-123. The FCC also finalized a rule adopted in September that updates the definition of TRS in accordance with the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (see 1909230007). The rule is effective Feb. 10, says Thursday's FR.

Intrastate carriers and VoIP service providers must contribute to a telecom relay services fund to support IP captioned telephone service starting July 1, says Monday's Federal Register. Commissioners voted in November to modify cost recovery rules for the TRS fund (see 1911150011). The rule is effective Feb. 5.

Intrastate carriers and VoIP service providers must contribute to a telecom relay services fund to support IP captioned telephone service starting July 1, says Monday's Federal Register. Commissioners voted in November to modify cost recovery rules for the TRS fund (see 1911150011). The rule is effective Feb. 5.

The FCC proposes precluding anyone or entity debarred or suspended from a government funding program such as the USF from serving on an FCC advisory committee "or comparable Commission groups or task forces," said the final NPRM on docket 19-309 and in Tuesday's Daily Digest. That's an addition from the initial draft.

The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:​​

The FCC released drafts of rules Tuesday to modernize unbundling and resale requirements for LECs, update suspension and debarment rules for telecom relay services programs, and modify cost recovery rules for IP-captioned telephone service (IP CTS), a form of TRS. Commissioners tentatively will vote at their Nov. 19 meeting (see 1910280054). Deregulating what incumbents must provide rival telecoms would include transition periods.