USTelecom Urges FCC Focus on VRS Efficiencies, TRS Costs; Parties File Replies
USTelecom asked the FCC to ensure "greater efficiencies" in the video relay service program for the deaf and hard of hearing, and to shore up "the overall sustainability" of the broader telecom relay service fund. In replies on a Further…
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NPRM (see 1703230055), it lauded commission efforts to encourage VRS efficiencies and innovation to address cost issues, but said the agency recognized structural changes were "slow to arrive." Even with FCC 2013-2017 reductions in VRS provider compensation rates, overall TRS funding continues to increase as a "shrinking group of rate-payers" shoulder the costs, leading to a recent TRS administrator proposal to increase the industry contribution rate by 12 percent (see 1705030034), said the group Thursday in docket No. 10-51. Parties filed initial comments last month (see 1704250057). USTelecom said the FCC should reject Sorenson Communication's proposal that VRS become a "mandatory" service for common carriers. ASL Service Holdings (GlobalVRS) said it wasn't surprising Sorenson opposed rivals' VRS compensation proposal to achieve "provider diversity" and TRS stability. (The proposal would raise most rates while cutting further the traffic tier rate affecting Sorenson.) "The dominant provider seeks to solidify its virtual monopolization of the Program," replied ASL Service. "The dominant provider can trace its 'success' not to innovation, superior service, or efficiency, but rather to years of over compensation." Sorensen has concerns on the FNPRM, it replied and told Office of General Counsel officials including acting General Counsel Brendan Carr. In the meeting, it sought "equal treatment to VRS providers that provide more than 500,000 minutes per month." The path in the FNPRM would set Tier III "rates below costs," it replied, violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. "If the Commission does not adopt one of Sorenson’s proposals for market-determined rates, the only rate in the record that meets ADA requirements is a $4.19 unitary per minute rate. Even if the Commission intends to push all costs of end user devices onto deaf consumers in violation of the ADA, the only justifiable rate in the record for VRS, without necessary equipment, is $3.73 per minute."