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If you need the complete document, download the WordPerfect version or Adobe Acrobat version, if available. ***************************************************************** Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of ) ) Telecommunications Relay Services,)CC Docket No. 90-571 and the Americans with Disabilities) Act of 1990 ) ORDER Adopted: August 20, 1997 Released: August 21, 1997 By the Chief, Common Carrier Bureau: I. INTRODUCTION 1. In 1995, the Common Carrier Bureau ("Bureau") suspended enforcement of the Commission's rule requiring the Telecommunications Relay Service ("TRS") to be capable of handling coin sent-paid calls by July 26, 1995. The Bureau's two year suspension of enforcement will expire on August 26, 1997. After reviewing the record in this proceeding, the Bureau concludes that we should recommend to the Commission that it conduct a further rulemaking on coin sent-paid issues. Such a rulemaking will enable the Commission to gather information sufficient to ensure that the Commission's final decision on whether TRS must be capable of handling coin sent-paid calls is based on a complete and fresh record. In this Order, we suspend enforcement of the coin sent-paid requirement for one additional year, until August 26, 1998, to enable the Commission to develop and act upon such a record. II. BACKGROUND A. Coin Sent-Paid Requirement 2. Under the Commission's rules, the TRS must be capable of handling any type of telephone call normally provided by common carriers, including coin sent-paid calls. The coin sent- paid requirement was initially to become effective on July 26, 1993. 3. Prior to this date, interested parties filed petitions for reconsideration of the order adopting this requirement. The Commission found that petitioners' unsupported statements that TRS was incompatible with coin sent-paid technology did not meet the carriers' heavy burden to prove infeasibility of providing a service readily available to voice telephone users. Because the Commission did not find a basis to exclude coin sent-paid calls from the requirement that the TRS must be capable of handling any type of call normally provided by common carriers, the Commission reaffirmed that carriers must comply with the coin sent-paid requirement by July 26, 1993. 4. As the July 26, 1993 implementation date for TRS approached, interested parties requested that we suspend enforcement of the requirement that the TRS handle coin sent-paid calls. Petitioners explained why providing the coin sent-paid service through TRS centers was not technically feasible at that time. The Bureau acknowledged that new technologies were being developed to solve technical pay text telephone problems and that the technologies would be available within two years. The Bureau suspended the coin sent-paid rule for two years, until July 26, 1995, so that industry could develop existing technology to provide the coin sent-paid service to TRS users. B. Alternative Plan 5. As the July 26, 1995 date for compliance with the coin sent-paid requirement approached, interested parties again filed petitions requesting suspension of the July 26, 1995 date for compliance with this requirement. Petitioners asserted that the existing technology had serious drawbacks and that compliance with the coin sent-paid requirement still was not technically feasible. Petitioners proposed an Alternative Plan ("Alternative Plan") that would enable individuals with hearing and speech disabilities to use traditional payphones using payment methods other than coins. Interested parties filed comments and reply comments on the petitions. The Bureau suspended enforcement of the coin sent-paid requirement for one month until August 26, 1995 to evaluate the record. 6. On August 25, 1995, the Bureau issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order (1995 Suspension Order) concluding that providing the TRS coin sent-paid service was not technically feasible at that time. The Bureau suspended the TRS coin sent-paid requirement for an additional two years, until August 26, 1997, and adopted the Alternative Plan for the two year interim period. The Alternative Plan requires common carriers and TRS providers to: (1) enable TRS users to make local TRS payphone calls free of charge; (2) enable TRS users to make toll calls by calling card or prepaid (debit) cards with rates equivalent to or less than those that would apply to a similar non- TRS call made using coin sent-paid service (coin call rates); and (3) develop programs to educate TRS users about alternative payment methods and to make calling cards and/or prepaid cards available to TRS users. The Bureau also directed industry to file two reports on the effectiveness of the Alternative Plan, due 12 and 18 months after the issuance of the Bureau's order adopting the Alternative Plan ("12 Month Report" and "18 Month Report" respectively). 7. 12 Month Report. USTA, on behalf of the industry team ("the Team"), filed the 12 Month Report, stating that the Alternative Plan has been effective. The Team explained that a variety of consumer education programs have been used and that the Team consulted with representatives of the TRS user community and revised the educational materials to accommodate their concerns. The Team reported that there have been fewer than ten public complaints about the Alternative Plan and that all complaints have been handled promptly. 8. The Team sent a draft of the 12 Month Report to the National Association of the Deaf ("NAD") for its comments. NAD's comments, which were included in the 12 Month Report that the Team submitted to the Commission, asserted that the consumer education part of the Alternative Plan has not been effective. NAD argued that the press releases, letters, and bill inserts were more like advertisements for individual relay providers or telecommunications companies than sources of objective educational information about the relay service. NAD added that industry has not been effective in implementing the Alternative Plan's requirement that TRS users make toll calls with calling or prepaid cards at rates that do not exceed the coin call rates. 9. 18 Month Report. In the 18 Month Report, the Team recommended that the Alternative Plan should be made permanent because: (1) there is no technical solution that can provide the coin sent-paid service other than CSI, which has serious deficiencies; (2) the cost of delivering CSI is not justified or reasonable based on the limited volume of TRS calls made using payphones; and (3) the CSI solution is even more expensive than reported at the time of the Bureau's 1995 Suspension Order, because of the Commission's recent decisions in the payphone docket and the docket addressing N11 codes and other abbreviated dialing arrangements. The Team reported that the industry had educated consumers about TRS through presentations made to state, regional, and national entities that represented hearing impaired individuals and to more general audiences such as schools and community organizations. 10. The 18 Month Report also described upcoming educational efforts planned by the Team. The Team reported that it plans to send a consumer education letter, developed in conjunction with the Consumer Action Network ("CAN"), to the TRS centers and to send a representative to various regional and national meetings that are sponsored by organizations representing the hearing and speech disabled community. Where appropriate and feasible, the Team also plans to rent or set up an informational booth so that educational material can be disseminated and access to TRS centers from payphones can be demonstrated. In addition, the Team is determining whether to include an article in CAN members' magazines or newsletters, whether to conduct a direct mailing to CAN's members, and whether to create a laminated card with visual characters (similar to airline safety instruction cards) that will offer a pictorial explanation to accompany the text describing how to reach TRS centers from payphones. 11. With respect to billing for coin sent-paid toll calls, the Team stated in the 18 Month Report that, as a convenience to TRS users, most TRS centers will accept prepaid or debit cards issued by other companies. The Team explained, however, that TRS centers do not know what charges are associated with each prepaid card or the operating parameters that determine the charges. The Team argued that it cannot ensure that the prepaid card providers' rates or practices are the same as those governing the use of the TRS center's prepaid card and that it is not feasible to explain the differences between cards. 12. The Bureau requested comments on the Alternative Plan and the two status reports by public notice dated May 9, 1997. Nine comments were filed on June 2, 1997. III. POSITION OF PARTIES 13. In response to the public notice, non-industry commenters state that they oppose the permanent adoption of the Alternative Plan and express their dissatisfaction with the consumer education part of the Alternative Plan. These commenters contend that technology is changing rapidly and may resolve the technical issue of coin sent-paid service for text telephone users in the future. They request that, in the meantime, the Commission suspend the coin sent-paid requirement, modify the Alternative Plan by prescribing the consumer education proposals contained in the 18 Month Report, and require that industry file status reports on the extent to which it has implemented these proposals. 14. Industry commenters urge the Commission to find that the Alternative Plan complies with the coin sent-paid requirement. These commenters contend that the Alternative Plan is superior to the CSI platform in providing payphone service to individuals with hearing and speech disabilities. Industry commenters report that implementing the CSI platform would be extremely expensive and not feasible to implement. They contend that it is unclear what technological solutions will be developed to remove the impediments to rating TRS coin sent-paid calls. In addition, they explain that coin sent-paid traffic represents an exceedingly small and continually decreasing proportion of traffic generated by both voice users and TRS customers. Industry commenters predict this reduction will continue, as callers increase their use of prepaid and calling cards. 15. Commission staff met with representatives from NAD, CAN and TDI on June 17, 1997 and with representatives from Sprint, MCI, AT&T and USTA on June 18, 1997. In these discussions, both non-industry and industry members acknowledged that the CSI technology has serious deficiencies, and that, presently, it is not a viable technology for providing TRS coin sent- paid service. The two groups strongly disagree, however, on the effectiveness of the consumer education part of the Alternative Plan. As a result, the two groups hold opposing views on whether the Alternative Plan has been successful. IV. DISCUSSION 16. On August 26, 1997, the two year suspension of the requirement that the TRS must be capable of handling coin sent-paid calls, and the Bureau's temporary requirement that carriers comply with the Alternative Plan, will end. Providing the coin sent-paid service through TRS centers, however, still is not technically feasible at a reasonable cost. Because no technological solution appears imminent, we intend to recommend that the Commission explore alternatives to resolve the coin sent-paid issue. One possibility is that the Commission adopt the Alternative Plan as a permanent solution. Because the parties disagree about the effectiveness of the Alternative Plan, we conclude that further inquiries are needed to resolve the coin sent-paid issue. For these reasons, the Bureau has decided to recommend that the Commission conduct a rulemaking to explore commenters' suggestions of ways to improve the Alternative Plan and to obtain proposals for other possible solutions to the coin sent-paid issue. Because one year is needed to conduct the rulemaking, a suspension of the enforcement of the coin sent-paid rule for one year, until August 26, 1998, is warranted. 17. During the one-year suspension of the enforcement of the coin sent-paid requirement, the Bureau directs carriers and TRS providers to continue to make payphones accessible to TRS users under the terms of the Alternative Plan set forth in the 1995 Suspension Order. Also, the Bureau directs carriers to improve their efforts to educate TRS users about how they can reach relay service centers from payphones using either calling or prepaid cards at rates that are equivalent to or less than the coin call rates. 18. In addition, we direct the industry to implement the consumer education proposals that were set forth in the 18 Month Report that we list below. First, we direct industry to work with the hearing and speech disability community to create and disseminate materials that will educate TRS users about access to the relay service through payphones without advertising the services of individual relay providers or telecommunications companies. Second, we direct industry to send the consumer education letter, that it developed in conjunction with the CAN, to TRS centers, which can then use it to educate callers about what services their centers offer and how to gain access to those services. The letter should explain the Alternative Plan's requirement that rates for toll calls made by TRS users with calling or prepaid cards must not exceed the coin call rates. Third, we direct the Team to send one or more representatives to various regional and national meetings sponsored by organizations representing the hearing and speech disability community to disseminate educational material, to rent or set up booths at the meetings, and to demonstrate how to call TRS centers from payphones. Industry should respond to non-industry concerns about the availability of educational materials by, for example, telling organizations representing the hearing and speech disability community before attending those organizations' regional and national meetings who will be representing the Team at the meeting, where the industry booth will be located, and at what times the booth will be in operation. 19. Fourth, we direct the Team to work jointly with affected communities to draft a report about the feasibility of executing the other proposals contained in the 18 Month Report. We direct the Team to submit this report to the Commission within two months of the publication of a summary of this Order in the Federal Register. In particular, we direct the Team to consult with representatives from organizations that represent the hearing and speech disability community to determine if it would be useful and possible to include an article in CAN's respective organizations' magazines or newsletters and to send a letter directly to CAN's members. The article and letter should explain that TRS users can call the relay service from payphones to make local calls for free and to make toll calls with calling card or prepaid cards at rates equivalent to or less than coin call rates. In addition, the article and letter should inform TRS users that most carriers offer calling cards, but not prepaid cards for placing calls from payphones, at rates equivalent to or less than the coin call rate. If possible, the article and letter should identify those carriers electing to offer prepaid cards that can be used to call from payphones for rates at or below the coin call rate. The article and letter should also suggest that TRS users learn from their long distance carrier whether its prepaid or calling card offers the lower rate for relay calls from payphones. If the Team and the organizations agree that including the letter in the newsletter and/or sending a letter directly to CAN's members would be useful, we direct the industry to take these actions. In addition, we request industry to investigate the feasibility of creating a laminated card with visual characters (similar to airline safety instruction cards) that will provide a pictorial explanation to accompany the text describing access to TRS centers from payphones. If creating the laminated cards is feasible, the Team should make the cards available to TRS users through the method agreed upon by industry as the most effective. V. CONCLUSION 20. The Bureau suspends enforcement of the coin sent-paid rule for one additional year until August 26, 1998. During the one year suspension of the coin sent-paid requirement, the Bureau intends to recommend that the Commission issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and a Report and Order on the coin sent-paid issue. During this time, TRS providers and common carriers will continue to follow the Alternative Plan as adopted in the 1995 Suspension Order as modified by this Order. VI. ORDERING CLAUSES 21. ACCORDINGLY, IT IS ORDERED that enforcement of the requirement that the Telecommunications Relay Services ("TRS") must be capable of handling coin sent-paid calls, as required by 47 C.F.R.  64.604(a)(3), IS SUSPENDED until August 26, 1998. This ORDER is effective upon publication of a summary in the Federal Register. The collections of information contained within are effective 30 days after Federal Register publication and contingent upon approval by the Office of Management and Budget. 22. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that common carriers providing telephone voice transmission services, and TRS providers, shall continue to make payphones accessible to TRS users pursuant to the terms of the Alternative Plan set forth in this Order. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Regina M. Keeney Chief, Common Carrier Bureau