Two Comment Periods Slated on FCC's Plan for VRS Rate Freeze, Other Steps
Different sets of comment periods were triggered on FCC video relay service proposals after a summary of a Further NPRM appeared in Wednesday's Federal Register. Comments on proposed VRS compensation rates are due Dec. 9, replies Dec. 24; comments on…
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possible VRS service improvements are due Jan. 4, replies Feb. 1 (all in dockets 10-51 and 03-123). The Further NPRM proposed to freeze the compensation rate of the smallest VRS providers at $5.29 per minute between July 1, 2015, and Oct. 31, 2016, which otherwise would be lower under ongoing rate cuts previously ordered by the commission (see 1511030064). The notice also seeks comment on other “measures that could enhance the functional equivalence of VRS,” which provides video-connected interpreters for the deaf and hard of hearing to communicate with phone callers. Three small VRS providers welcomed the rate-freeze proposal, but two of them along with Sorenson Communications, a larger provider, voiced varying degrees of concern that the commission didn't go further in its proposals to assist them in their efforts (see 1511040061).