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   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:

   May 7, 2013 Mark Wigfield, 202-418-0253

   Email: mark.wigfield@fcc.gov

      AT&T TO PAY $18.25 MILLION TO SETTLE FCC INVESTIGATION OF IMPROPERLY
   BILLING FUND THAT SUPPORTS ACCESSIBILITY OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES TO
                           PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

      Consent Decree Includes Compliance Plan to Prevent Future Violations

   Washington, D.C. - AT&T Inc. has agreed to pay $18.25 million to settle an
   investigation by the FCC's Enforcement Bureau into whether the company
   improperly billed the Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) fund for
   certain IP Relay (Internet-based TRS) calls. Among the issues under
   investigation were whether AT&T billed the fund for IP Relay calls by
   persons whom the company registered for the service without first
   requiring them to provide such basic information as their names, and by
   persons whose registration information the company failed to adequately
   verify. These registration and verification requirements are designed to
   protect the program against waste, fraud and abuse.

   In the consent decree released today, AT&T agreed to reimburse the TRS
   Fund $7 million, which includes interest.  In addition, AT&T agreed to
   make a voluntary contribution of $11.25 million to the U.S. Treasury.
   AT&T must implement a robust compliance plan including new operating
   procedures, comprehensive training of its employees and contractors, and
   periodic reporting requirements.

   FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said, "For consumers with speech and
   hearing disabilities, Telecommunications Relay Service provides a vital
   connection to friends, family, employers and first responders. Today's
   settlement represents the fourth FCC enforcement action to date against
   Internet-based TRS providers, resulting in payments of nearly $40 million
   back to the Fund and the U.S. Treasury. The steps taken today will not
   only ensure the integrity of the program, but also send a strong signal to
   providers that we will not tolerate abuse of the system."

   FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Michele Ellison added, "The Enforcement
   Bureau will remain vigilant in this area. Millions of people rely on
   Telecommunications Relay Service, and we intend to safeguard it for their
   use. We will continue to root out waste in the TRS program and strongly
   urge TRS providers to put processes and procedures in place to prevent
   violations of the Commission's TRS rules."

   TRS enables an individual who is deaf, hard of hearing, deaf-blind, or who
   has a speech disability, to engage in telephone communications with one or
   more individuals. With IP Relay, a Internet-based form of TRS, a person
   with a hearing or speech disability communicates with a provider's
   communications assistant (CA) via an Internet connection, and the CA
   relays the communications to the hearing party via the public switched
   telephone network (PSTN).

   The TRS Fund compensates TRS providers for reasonable costs of providing
   service for interstate calls. TRS is funded from a fee paid for by
   subscribers of interstate telecommunications services. Congress created
   the TRS program in Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act of
   1990, codified at Section 225 of the Communications Act of 1934, as
   amended (Act). Under the Act, the Commission must ensure the provision of
   TRS that is functionally equivalent to voice telephone service. The
   Commission's TRS regulations set forth mandatory minimum standards that
   TRS providers must follow to meet this functional equivalency mandate.

   The consent decree is available at
   http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-13-594A1.pdf.

                                     -FCC-

       News about the Federal Communications Commission can also be found

                   on the Commission's web site www.fcc.gov.

   NEWS

   Federal Communications Commission

   445 12^th Street, S.W.

   Washington, D. C. 20554

   This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the
   full text of a Commission order constitutes official action.

   See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).

                                        News Media Information 202 / 418-0500

                                                 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov

                                                          TTY: 1-888-835-5322