NEWSReport No. CC 98-15   COMMON CARRIER ACTION                 May 14, 1998

   Commission Proposes Ways to Improve Telecommunications Relay Services,
              Extend Services to More People With Disabilities
                            (CC Docket No. 98-67)
                                      
                The Commission today proposed ways to enhance the quality of existing
telecommunications relay services (TRS) and expand those services for better use by
the 2.5 million Americans with speech disabilities.  Today's proposals are intended
to promote access to telecommunications and improve the overall effectiveness of
both interstate and intrastate TRS programs.  

                TRS enables people with hearing and speech disabilities to communicate with
people who use voice telephones.  The service typically involves a three-way call
between a person using a text telephone, an operator -- known as a Communications
Assistant --  and a person using a voice telephone.  The Communications Assistant
relays messages between the callers. TRS, which has been in existence for more than
a decade, is currently available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and operates at no
extra cost to the caller.  

                Among the proposals included in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking adopted
today: 

       The Commission tentatively concluded that the costs of speech-to-speech (STS)
       services and video relay interpreting (VRI) service should be recoverable from
       the TRS Fund.  STS allows people with speech disabilities to speak on the
       telephone and to be understood by the person being called through the use of a
       specially-trained Communications Assistant who relays the conversation.  VRI
       uses videoconferencing equipment to allow callers with hearing disabilities to
       communicate by sign language or other forms of visual communication to the
       Communications Assistant who relays the conversation.
       
              The Commission tentatively concluded that all common carriers providing
       voice transmission services must ensure that STS services are available
       throughout their service areas within two years of adoption of final rules in this
       proceeding.
       
              The Commission tentatively concluded that it should strengthen the current
       TRS minimum standards, including its speed-of-answer rules.
       
              The Commission tentatively concluded that it should amend the TRS
       enforcement rules to improve the Commission's oversight of certified state
       TRS programs and its ability to compel compliance with the federal mandatory
       minimum standards for TRS.
       
               Congress enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, in part, to allow
  individuals with disabilities to participate fully in American society.  To achieve this
  goal in the telecommunications context, Title IV of the ADA requires the Commission
  to ensure that telecommunications relay services are available, to the extent possible
  and in the most efficient manner, to persons with hearing or speech disabilities in the
  United States.  Without this legal obligation, 28 million Americans might be deprived
  of the fundamental ability to use the telephone.  Today's Notice of Proposed
  Rulemaking seeks to advance the goals of the ADA by extending the benefits of
  advances in telecommunications to Americans that might otherwise be excluded
  because of their disability.
  
          Action by the Commission May 14, 1998, by Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
  (FCC 98-90).  Chairman Kennard, Commissioners Ness, Furchtgott-Roth, Powell and
  Tristani .
  
       -FCC-
                                    
                                        News Media contact:  Rochelle Cohen at (202) 418-0253 (voice), 
          (202) 418-2555 (TTY).
          Common Carrier Bureau contact:  Kris Monteith at (202) 418-1098 (voice), 
          (202) 418-0484 (TTY).