Consumer Groups, Industry Ask FCC To Freeze All VRS Rates
All video relay service (VRS) rates should be frozen, not just those for the smallest three companies (see 1511040061), said consumer groups and industry representatives in ex parte filings in dockets 10-51 and 03-123. The National Association of the Deaf…
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said in its Friday filing that it has seen and "been alarmed by the deterioration of VRS, which appear[s] to be exacerbated each time the Commission reduces the rates." Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing said in its Friday filing that the "extraordinary focus on cost cutting is contrary to the mandate of the Americans with Disabilities Act for functionally equivalent telecommunication services for deaf and hard of hearing individuals." A mix of four large and small companies that offer VRS said in their Monday filing that a freeze is necessary to protect the quality of the service until the "FCC reaches a sustainable, market-based compensation mechanism because the current compensation mechanism is fundamentally and fatally flawed." Comments are due Dec. 9 (see 1511180026).