Office of the Secretary
Federal Communications Commission
1919 M Street, Room 222, NE
Washington, DC 20554

Re: Comments of CONXUS Communications, Inc.

WT Docket No. 96- 198

Dear Mr. Secretary:

Enclosed are an original and nine (9) copies of the Comments of CONXUS
Communications, Inc. in WT Docket No. 96- 198. Please file the comments in
this proceeding.

cc: Dan Phytheon Elizabeth Lyle

CONXUS Communications
112 North Main Street
Greenville, SC 29601

Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Washington, D. C.

In the Matter of Implementation of Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act
of 1996

Access to Telecommunications Services, Telecommunications Equipment, and
Customer Premises Equipment By Persons With Disabilities

WT Docket No. 96- 198

Comments of CONXUS Communications, Inc.

Michael D. Layman Vice President and General Counsel CONXUS Communications,
Inc. 12 North Main Street Greenville, SC 29615 (864) 235- 0940

June 30,1998

INTRODUCTION

CONXUS Communications is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission
to provide Personal Communications Services (“ PCS”) using Narrowband PCS
frequencies. CONXUS provides stored voice messaging services to customers in
Miami, TampaOrlando, Dallas- Ft. Worth, Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago,
Atlanta and Washington, D. C. Baltimore. Within the next 60 days, CONXUS
expects to extend commercial service to customers in New York, Boston,
Philadelphia and San Franicsco.

CONXUS customers use the Pocketalk TM subscriber device, a messaging unit
which functions much like a portable answering machine. Callers dial the
Pocketalk TM ” customer’s unique telephone number and are prompted to leave a
voice message. The customer’s unit rings or vibrates (at the customer’s
option) to alert the customer to a message. The customer can choose to
listen to the message immediately, or later. A customer out of the coverage
area when a caller leaves a message is alerted to waiting messages when the
customer returns to the coverage area. The Pocketalk TM device is about the
size of a deck of cards and uses a single 9- volt battery. Sold primarily by
resellers in CONXUS coverage areas, the Pocketalk TMmdevice typically costs
from $79.00 to $99.00. Monthly local service, including message storage, is
typically $20.00. A customer desiring service in all CONXUS markets can
obtain such coverage for less than $40.00 a month. The Pocketalk TM” network
offers major advantages over traditional voice messaging, in that the
network stores messages for convenient retrieval, at low cost. Pocketalk TM”
costs less to purchase and use than cellular or broadband PCS services.
CONXUS believes that unless the FCC adopts more flexible standards in its
final order in this rulemaking, the company faces a virtually impossible
task in making its service available to consumers of all disabilities.

DISCUSSION

The statutory mandate in Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996
as it relates to carriers is straightforward and brief: “A provider of
telecommunications services shall insure that the service is accessible to
and usable by individuals with disabilities, if readily achievable.”

CONXUS offers only voice messaging service, as described above. The
Pocketalk TMm device is manufactured only by Motorola, Inc. and the device now
in use is a first- generation product. The subscriber device has been in
widespread commercial use for about a year. Despite the short time during
which the device has been in commercial use, CONXUS has already seen a
response from visually- impaired consumers which can only be described as
remarkable. Among the first potential users to contact CONXUS when the
network began commercial operation in Washington, D. C. and Miami were
persons who said they were blind or only partially- sighted. These users
told of their frustration and dissatisfaction with cellular phones because
of the service’s high- cost and the short battery life of the handsets.
Lower- cost digital and alphanumeric pagers are not particularly usell to
these consumers, although those with whom CONXUS representatives spoke told
of the ways in which they had sought to use the alphanumeric or digital
pagers: the most common adaptation was to hold the unit up to another person
and have the telephone number or text message read out loud to the blind
user. The availability of a low- cost alternative to digital and
alphanumeric pagers allowing a blind user to retrieve voice messages in
privacy has led many blind or partially- sighted persons to purchase and use
Pocketalk TM enthusiastically.

While the Pocketalk TM” device is of obvious benefit to users with limited or
no vision, the device is not a substitute for the digital or alphanumeric
pagers useful to customers with no hearing. The Pocketalk TM“ device cannot
display a text message nor convert the voice message into a text message.
Unless CONXUS can demonstrate that modification to the Pocketalk TM device or
network to make it more useful to deaf persons is not “readily achievable”
the company faces the risk of sanctions under the FCC’s final order in this
rulemaking if the rules as proposed are adopted. CONXUS is particularly
concerned with the FCC’s proposal to require carriers to incorporate
accessibility features in each product the carrier offers. CONXUS offers
only a single product- the Pocketalk TM device. Adoption of a requirement that
CONXUS provide accessibility to deaf as well as blind persons in a device
uniquely suited to blind users but unsuited to deaf users cannot be what
Congress intended in the enactment of Section 255.

CONXUS believes the more appropriate standard for carriers, particularly
those which do not offer multiple product lines, is to require that the
carrier do what is readily achievable to extend the potential benefits of
the product the carrier offers to as many users with disabilities as
reasonably possible. This test, of course, inherently requires a facts-
andcircumstances analysis. Among the questions CONXUS believes may be
relevant in applying such a test to the Pocketalk TM are the following:

1. What devices similar to the Pocketalk TM are available in the marketplace
at a similar cost to purchase and operate, and which provide greater
accessibility to persons with disabilities? 

2. What efforts has CONXUS made
to maximize the accessibility of Pocketalk TM to potential users whose
disabilities allow the use of voice messaging?

There is no device similar to the Pocketalk TM“ available in the marketplace
which can deliver stored voice messaging at a similar cost to purchase and
operate. By definition, therefore, no device presently exists which can
deliver a voice message and provide greater accessibility to persons with
disabilities. The unique accessibility of the Pocketalk TM to users with
little or no sight has actually extended the availability of more
telecommunications options to those disabled by blindness or impaired
vision. CONXUS proactively seeks to make its network and service more
accessible. For example, CONXUS has:

1. With the cooperation of Motorola, Inc., developed trial versions of
Braille marketing material, a Braille version of the operating instructions
for the Pocketalk TM device, and audiotape operating instructions to allow
visualyyimpaired consumers easier access to the Pocketalk TM device and
network;

 2. Interviewed blind or visually- impaired Pocketalk TM” consumers
for comments about the adaptation of the existing device to their special
needs, and for suggestions for improvements for incorporation in second and
subsequent generation devices. 

3. Worked actively with both the American
Federation of the Blind and the American Council of the Blind to introduce
the Pocketalk TM device and service to the membership of these organizations,
and to seek assistance in improving the accessibility of the service.

By concentrating its efforts on helping to enhance the accessibility of the
Pocketalk TM to visually impaired users, CONXUS has helped to provide a new,
uniquely helpful telecommunications device to a group of disabled persons.
To require CONXUS to compromise the features of the Pocketalk TM device and
network which make it uniquely useful to those with little or no vision
makes no sense in the world envisioned by the Telecommunications Act of
1996, passed to foster competition and diversity in communications
offerings. CONXUS believes, after seven months of commercial operation, that
the greatest contribution it can make as a provider of telecommunications
service to a public which includes thousands of potential users with little
or no vision is to concentrate its efforts on making the Pocketalk TM device
and network even more accessible to those disabled users who can benefit
immediately and directly from the product’s existing characteristics.

CONCLUSION

CONXUS is the only provider of stored- voice messaging using Narrowband PCS
technology in the United States today. Customers needing affordable, widely-
available messaging service have equally usefuloptions other than
Pocketalk TM if their disabilities prevent the full use of Pocketalk TM and
its unique features. CONXUS believes that carriers such as itself should
focus on making the features of existing technology more available to
disabled users by any means possible while still taking into account the
fact that a “one size fits all” mandate cannot be met. CONXUS believes
further that by using the data developed in the commercial world, it can
assist manufacturers make future telecommunications devices more useful to
disabled customers, while retaining the features that open new opportunities
to disabled users.

Respectfully submitted, 
Michael D. Layman Vice President and General Counsel
CONXUS Communications, Inc. 
12 North Main Street Greenville, SC 29601
 June
30,1998

Certificate of Service

I, Michael D. Layman, do hereby certify that on the 30* day of June, 1998, a
copy of the foregoing Comments of CONXUS Communications, Inc. has been
served, via United States Mail, postage pre- paid, upon the following:

Dan Phytheon Wireless Bureau Chief Federal Communications Commission

2025 M Street, NW Room 5002 Washington, DC 20036

Elizabeth Lyle Senior Legal Advisor Wireless Telecommunications Bureau
Federal Communications Commission 2025 M Street, NW Room 5002 Washington, DC
20036

Michael D. Layman