FCC Order Sets New Compensation Rates for Telecom Relay Services
The FCC adopted a 2019-2020 funding requirement of $1.4 billion to compensate telephone carriers for telecommunications relay services used by persons who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf-blind or have speech difficulties, it said in a docket 03-123 order Friday. It also…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
ordered new compensation rates, effective Monday, of $3.11 per minute for traditional TRS, $4.24 for speech-to-speech relay, and $2.28 for captioned telephone service. Separate rates were set for IP-enabled services (see 1905290047). The order also sets a carrier contribution factor of .028 for FY 2019-2020, starting Monday. A Friday statement from Chairman Ajit Pai said that recent changes in the Interstate Telecommunications Relay Services Fund will save nearly $409 million over the coming funding year, and spending for the fund is expected to decline for the first time since 2014 "even as overall TRS minutes increase."