[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 91 (Wednesday, May 12, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 26701-26702]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-11326]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 64
[CG Docket No. 03-123; DA 10-761]
Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services
for Individuals With Hearing and Speech Disabilities
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: In this document, the Commission, via the Consumer and
Governmental Affairs Bureau (Bureau), seeks comment on the annual
payment formulas and funding requirement estimates for the Interstate
Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) Fund (Fund) for the period of
July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2011 (2010-2011 Fund year), as proposed
by the National Exchange Carrier Association (NECA), the Fund
Administrator. The Bureau seeks comment on NECA's proposed compensation
rates for Interstate TRS, Speech-to-Speech Services (STS), Captioned
Telephone Services (CTS), Internet Protocol (IP) CTS, IP Relay, and
Video Relay Services (VRS), for the 2010-2011 Fund year, as well as on
NECA's proposals for the carrier contribution factor and funding
requirement.
DATES: Comments are due on or before May 14, 2010; reply comments are
due on or before May 21, 2010.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by CG Docket No. 03-123,
by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Federal Communications Commission's Web Site: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs2/. Follow the instructions for submitting
comments.
People with Disabilities: Contact the FCC to request
reasonable accommodations (accessible format documents, sign language
interpreters, CART, etc.) by e-mail: [email protected] or phone: 202-418-
0530 or TTY: 202-418-0432.
For detailed instructions for submitting comments and additional
information on the rulemaking process, see the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Diane Mason, Consumer and Governmental
Affairs Bureau, Disability Rights Office, at (202) 418-7126 (voice),
(202) 418-7828 (TTY), or e-mail at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a synopsis of the Commission's
document DA 10-761, adopted and released on April 30, 2010. The
complete text of DA 10-761, NECA's submission and any subsequently
filed documents in this matter will be available during regular
business hours at the FCC Reference Center, Portals II, 445 12th
Street, SW., Room CY-A257, Washington, DC 20554, (202) 418-0270.
Document DA 10-761, NECA's submission and any subsequently filed
documents in this matter may also be purchased from the Commission's
duplicating contractor at its Web site, http://www.bcpiweb.com, or call
1-800-378-3160. A copy of the submission may also be found by searching
on ECFS (insert CG Docket No. 03-123 into the Proceeding block).
Pursuant to 47 CFR 1.415 and 1.419, interested parties may file
comments on this document. All filings must reference CG Docket No. 03-
123. Comments may be filed using: (1) The Commission's Electronic
Comment Filing System (ECFS), (2) the Federal Government's eRulemaking
Portal, or (3) by filing paper copies. Comments may be filed
electronically using the Internet by accessing the ECFS: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs or the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Filers should follow the instructions provided on
the Web site for submitting comments. In completing the transmittal
screen, commenters should include their full name, U.S. Postal Service
mailing address, and CG Docket No. 03-123.
[[Page 26702]]
Parties may also submit an electronic comment by Internet e-mail. To
get filing instructions, filers should send an e-mail to [email protected],
and include the following words in the body of the message: ``get
form.'' A sample form and directions will be sent in response.
Parties who choose to file by paper must file an original and four
copies of each filing. Filings can be sent by hand or messenger
delivery, by commercial overnight courier, or by first-class or
overnight U.S. Postal Service mail. All filings must be addressed to
the Commission's Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal
Communications Commission. All hand-delivered or messenger-delivered
paper filings for the Commission's Secretary must be delivered to FCC
Headquarters at 445 12th St., SW., Room TW-A325, Washington, DC 20554.
The filing hours are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. All hand deliveries must be held
together with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes must be disposed
of before entering the building. Commercial overnight mail (other than
U.S. Postal Service Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to
9300 East Hampton Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743. U.S. Postal Service
first-class, Express, and Priority mail must be addressed to 445 12th
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20554.
Parties who choose to file by paper should also submit their
comments on CD-Rom. The CD-Rom should be submitted, along with three
paper copies, to: Dana Wilson, Consumer and Governmental Affairs
Bureau, Disability Rights Office, 445 12th Street, SW., Room 3-C418,
Washington, DC 20554. Such a submission should be on CD-Rom formatted
in an IBM compatible format using Word 2003 or compatible software. The
CD-Rom should be accompanied by a cover letter and should be submitted
in ``read only'' mode. The CD-Rom should be clearly labeled with the
commenter's name, proceeding (including the lead docket number, in this
case, CG Docket No. 03-123), type of pleading (comment or reply
comment), date of submission, and the name of the electronic file on
the CD-Rom. The label should also include the following phrase: ``CD-
Rom Copy--Not an Original.'' Each CD-Rom should contain only one
party's pleadings, preferably in a single electronic file. In addition,
commenters must send CD-Rom copies to the Commission's copy contractor,
Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554.
To request materials in accessible formats for people with
disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format),
send an e-mail to [email protected] or call the Consumer and Governmental
Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (TTY). This
document can also be downloaded in Word and Portable Document Format
(PDF) at: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro/trs.html.
Synopsis
On April 30, 2010, pursuant to 47 CFR 64.604(c)(5)(iii)(H), NECA
submitted its annual payment formulas and funding requirement estimates
for the Fund for the period of July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2011. The
Bureau seeks comment on NECA's proposed compensation rates for TRS,
STS, CTS, IP CTS, IP Relay, and VRS, for the 2010-2011 Fund year, as
well as on NECA's proposals for the carrier contribution factor and
funding requirement.
With respect to VRS, the Bureau is particularly seeking comment on
whether the Commission should adopt NECA's proposed rates for the 2010-
2011 Fund year based on the 2009 average actual historical costs
reported in the data submitted to NECA by VRS providers. In this
regard, document DA 10-761 also seeks to refresh the record on the
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking portion of the 2009 PN and NPRM, which
sought comment on whether VRS tiered rates should be recalculated based
on data reflecting the actual costs of providing VRS.
Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for
Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities, Public Notice and
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, CG Docket No. 03-123, FCC 09-39,
published at 74 FR 23815, May 21, 2009 (2009 PN and NPRM). In the past,
the Commission has relied on projected costs to determine the
compensation rate. NECA proposes a set of tiered rates for VRS: Tier I
includes monthly minutes up to 50,000; Tier II includes monthly minutes
between 50,001 and 500,000; and Tier III includes monthly minutes above
500,000. In one of its proposals, on which the Bureau is particularly
seeking comment, NECA then calculates the rate within each tier using
weighted averages of VRS providers' actual historical cost data for
2009, including allowances of 1.6% for cash working capital, 3.2% for
growth, and $0.0083 per minute for ongoing E911 and ten-digit numbering
costs. This calculation results in rates of $5.7754 for Tier I, $6.0318
for Tier II, and $3.8963 for Tier III. The Bureau also particularly
seeks comment on whether the Commission should adopt 2010-2011 interim
Fund Year rates based on NECA's proposed use of weighted averages in
calculating each of the tiers.
NECA also proposes the following per-minute compensation rates for
all other forms of TRS: $2.256 for interstate traditional TRS; $3.1566
for STS; $1.6951 for CTS and IP CTS; $1.2985 for IP Relay. Based on
these rates, NECA proposes a carrier contribution factor of between
0.00379 and 0.00908, and a funding requirement of between $280.8
million and $673.3 million.
Mark Stone,
Deputy Bureau Chief, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Federal
Communications Commission.
[FR Doc. 2010-11326 Filed 5-11-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P