[Federal Register: March 14, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 49)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 11789-11791]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14mr07-6]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 64
[CG Docket 03-123; DA 06-2532]
Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services
for Individuals With Hearing and Speech Disabilities
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Final rule; extension of waiver.
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SUMMARY: In this document, the Commission extends for an additional
year the waiver of the emergency call handling requirement for
providers of Video Relay Service (VRS). The Commission extends the
waiver for one year in view of continued technological challenges to
determining the geographic location of telecommunications relay service
(TRS) calls that originate via the Internet.
DATES: The waiver of the emergency call handling requirement will
expire on January 1, 2008, or upon the release of an order addressing
the VRS emergency call handling issue, whichever comes first.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Chandler, (202) 418-1475
(voice), (202) 418-0597 (TTY), or e-mail Thomas.Chandler@fcc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 31, 2001, the Commission
released Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech
Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities, Waiver
Order, DA 01-3029, CC Docket No. 98-67, 17 FCC Rcd 157 (2001), granting
VRS providers a waiver until December 31, 2003, of certain TRS
mandatory minimum standards, including the emergency call handling
requirement. On December 19, 2003, the Commission released
Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for
Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities, Order, DA 03-4029, CC
Docket No. 98-67, 18 FCC Rcd 26309 (2003), extending the waiver to June
30, 2004. On June 30, 2004, the Commission released Telecommunications
Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with
Hearing and Speech Disabilities, 2004 TRS Report and Order, FCC 04-137,
CC Docket No. 98-67, published at 69 FR 53382, September 1, 2004,
extending the waiver until January 1, 2006. On December 5, 2005, the
Commission released Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-
Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities,
Order, DA 05-3139, CG Docket No. 03-123, published at 70 FR 76712,
December 28, 2005, again extending the waiver until January 1, 2007.
This is a summary of the Commission's document DA 06-2532, adopted
December 15, 2006, released December 15, 2006.
To request materials in accessible formats for people with
disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format),
send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental
Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice) or (202) 418-0432 (TTY). The
Commission's document DA 06-2532 can also be downloaded in Word and
Portable Document Format (PDF) at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb.dro.
Synopsis
The Commission's TRS regulations set forth operational, technical,
and functional mandatory minimum standards applicable to the provision
of TRS. See 47 CFR 64.604 of the Commission's rules (the TRS
``mandatory minimum standards''). To be eligible for reimbursement from
the Interstate TRS Fund for the provision of TRS, the provider must
offer service in compliance with all applicable mandatory minimum
standards, unless waived. See Telecommunications Relay Services and
Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech
Disabilities, Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (Improved TRS Order and FNPRM), FCC 00-56, CC Docket No. 98-
67, published at 65 FR 38432, June 21, 2000 and 65 FR 38490, June 21,
2000.
The mandatory minimum standards require TRS providers to handle
emergency calls by immediately and automatically transferring the calls
to an appropriate public safety answering point (PSAP). See 47 CFR
64.604(a)(4) of the Commission's rules. The Commission recognized that
many individuals use VRS and IP Relay to contact emergency services
despite the fact that persons with hearing and speech disabilities can
make calls directly to the PSAP by calling 911 through a TTY and a
traditional telephone line. See Telecommunications Relay Services and
Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech
Disabilities, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (VRS 911 NPRM), FCC 05-196,
CG Docket No. 03-123, published at 71 FR 5221, February 1, 2006.
Regulations require state and local governments to make emergency
[[Page 11790]]
services directly accessible to TTY users (i.e., for direct TTY to TTY
calls).
In March 2000, the Commission recognized VRS as a form of TRS
eligible for compensation from the Interstate TRS Fund. See Improved
TRS Order and FNPRM, 15 FCC Rcd 5152-5154, paragraphs 21-27. On
December 31, 2001, the Commission granted VRS providers a two-year
waiver of certain TRS mandatory minimum standards, including the
emergency call handling requirement. This waiver was extended to
January 1, 2007. See Telecommunications Relay Services Speech-to-Speech
Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities, Order
(2005 VRS 911 Waiver Order), DA 05-3139, CG Docket No. 03-123,
published at 70 FR76712, December 28, 2005.
On November 30, 2005, the Commission released the VRS 911 NPRM,
seeking comment on how providers of the Internet-based TRS services,
including VRS, may determine the appropriate PSAP to contact when they
receive an emergency call. See (VRS 911 NPRM). The Commission
emphasized the importance of developing the technology required to
promptly route VRS calls seeking emergency assistance to the
appropriate emergency service provider. VRS 911 NPRM, 20 FCC Rcd
19476--19477, paragraphs 1-2, 19484, paragraph 18.
On November 14, 2006, Sprint Nextel Corporation filed a petition to
extend the waiver until January 1, 2008, or until the release of an
order addressing this matter, whichever happens first. Sprint Nextel
Corporation (Sprint), Petition for Waiver, CG Docket No. 03-123, filed
November 14, 2006 (Sprint Petition). In its petition, Sprint states
that the technological challenges that led to the extension of the
current waiver for VRS are still present. Sprint therefore states that
because providers are still unable to automatically determine the
geographic location of VRS callers, there is good cause for extending
the waiver.
On November 15, 2006, the Commission held the E9-1-1 Disability
Access Summit (Summit) to discuss advances in E9-1-1 calling technology
and access for persons with hearing and speech disabilities, including
via VRS calls. FCC Releases Agenda for November 15 E9-1-1 Disability
Access Summit, News Release (November 13, 2006). The Summit brought
together representatives from the government, industry, and consumer
groups to exchange information and evaluate options for addressing this
critical issue.
During the Summit, Sprint, Communications Services for the Deaf
(CSD), Communications Access Center (CAC), Hands On Video Relay
Services (Hands On), Hamilton Relay (Hamilton), and Sorenson
Communications (Sorenson), all VRS providers, noted that technology has
not yet been developed to allow them to automatically forward emergency
VRS calls to the appropriate PSAP. See E9-1-1 Disability Access Summit,
Meeting Transcript (November 15, 2006). They also explained the interim
methods being used to connect VRS calls to PSAPs. These include
ensuring that incoming emergency VRS calls are given priority call
handling, using two CAs during an emergency call to ensure that
location and other necessary information is gathered from the VRS user,
in other words, in addition to the CA handling the relay call, a second
CA would assist in relaying the call and use of a national database to
locate the appropriate PSAP to call. CSD Comments, E9-1-1 Disability
Access Summit, Provider Panel. In other words, if the VRS caller is
able to do so, the caller provides the CA with his or her location, the
CA determines the appropriate PSAP for that location through a national
database, and the CA then makes the outbound call to the PASP. Another
provider noted that its CAs will stay on the call until the first
responders arrive at the emergency location to ensure that the VRS user
is able to communicate with the emergency personnel. Sorenson Comments,
E9-1-1 Disability Access Summit, Provider Panel.
Also during the Summit, Consumer groups acknowledged that users are
moving away from using TTYs and that VRS is now widely used in the deaf
community. See, e.g., NorCal Center on Deafness Comments, E9-1-1
Disability Access Summit, Consumer Panel. Consumers also advocated for
the development of automated methods for determining the location of
VRS callers, the ability to handle emergency calls from mobile devices,
training for 911 operators on responding to calls from persons with
speech or hearing disabilities, and interoperability between PSAPs. See
E9-1-1 Disability Access Summit, Consumer Panel (panelist representing
consumers included Sheri Farinha Mutti, Claude Stout, Rebecca Ladew, Ed
Bosson, and Elizabeth Spiers).
Discussion
The Commission recognizes the vital importance of access to
emergency services for all relay services, particularly VRS. For this
reason, the Commission sought detailed comment on this issue in the VRS
911 NPRM, and recently held the E9-1-1 Disability Access Summit to
explore continuing developments to finding a solution to this issue.
The Commission also recognizes, however, that although providers and
other interested parties are actively working toward a solution to this
critical issue, presently a technological solution does not exist to
automatically route Internet-based emergency VRS calls to the
appropriate PSAP--i.e., to automatically determine the geographic
location of the VRS caller so the call can be linked to the appropriate
PSAP. For this reason, some providers have taken interim measures for
handling emergency calls. For example, some providers are able to give
emergency calls priority call handling. See, e.g., Sorenson Comments,
E9-1-1 Disability Access Summit, Provider Panel. Providers may consider
the feasibility of using a dedicated emergency calling ``link'' on
their VRS Web-site that callers making an emergency VRS call can use
and that will allow providers to promptly identify and handle incoming
emergency calls. Others use two CAs on an emergency call to assist in
gathering accurate information from the caller. See, e.g., E9-1-1
Disability Access Summit, Provider Panel (remarks of CSD and Verizon).
At least one provider uses a national database to determine the
appropriate PSAP for the caller's location. See, e.g., Sorenson
Comments, E9-1-1 Disability Access Summit, Provider Panel (noting that
it uses Intrado to determine the appropriate PSAP and its telephone
number for a particular address). Until a technological solution is
adopted that automatically routes VRS 911 calls, the Commission
encourages all VRS providers to take similar or other steps to ensure
that emergency calls are routed to the appropriate PSAP as quickly as
possible.
The Commission may waive a provision of its rules for ``good cause
shown.'' 47 CFR 1.3; see generally 2004 TRS Report and Order, 19 FCC
Rcd 12520, paragraph 110 (discussing standard for waiving Commission
rules). Because it is apparent that the current state of technology
does not allow a means of automatically determining the geographic
location of TRS calls originating via the Internet, including VRS
calls, the Commission finds good cause exists to extend the present
waiver of the emergency call handling requirement for VRS providers
until January 1, 2008 or upon the release of an order addressing this
issue, whichever comes first. The Commission also notes that a similar
issue exists
[[Page 11791]]
with respect to VoIP service (i.e., voice telephone calls made via the
Internet rather than the PSTN), and that for this reason, the
Commission has presently mandated that VoIP providers obtain a
registered location for each of their customers so that the providers
can direct an emergency VoIP call to the appropriate PSAP. In the
pending VRS 911 NPRM, the Commission sought comment on the adoption of
a registered location requirement similar to the VoIP requirement. VRS
911 NPRM, 20 FCC Rcd 19484-19486, paragraphs 19-22. In addition, the
Commission raised other potential options for addressing emergency call
handling, including developing a unified database of PSAPs that
providers could use when receiving an emergency call, requiring
providers to give priority access to emergency calls, and structuring
VRS and IP Relay calls in such a way that they include a VoIP call, so
that the VoIP registration could apply to the VRS or IP Relay call. VRS
911 NPRM, 20 FCC Rcd 19487, paragraphs 24-26. These issues remain
pending.
Ordering Clause
Pursuant to the authority contained in sections 225 of the
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 225, and Sec. Sec.
0.141, 0.361, and 1.3 of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 0.141, 0.361,
1.3, the Order is adopted.
Federal Communications Commission.
Jay Keithley,
Deputy Bureau Chief, Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau.
[FR Doc. E7-4248 Filed 3-13-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P