[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 91 (Wednesday, May 12, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 26701-26702]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-11326]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 64

[CG Docket No. 03-123; DA 10-761]


Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services 
for Individuals With Hearing and Speech Disabilities

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Commission, via the Consumer and 
Governmental Affairs Bureau (Bureau), seeks comment on the annual 
payment formulas and funding requirement estimates for the Interstate 
Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) Fund (Fund) for the period of 
July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2011 (2010-2011 Fund year), as proposed 
by the National Exchange Carrier Association (NECA), the Fund 
Administrator. The Bureau seeks comment on NECA's proposed compensation 
rates for Interstate TRS, Speech-to-Speech Services (STS), Captioned 
Telephone Services (CTS), Internet Protocol (IP) CTS, IP Relay, and 
Video Relay Services (VRS), for the 2010-2011 Fund year, as well as on 
NECA's proposals for the carrier contribution factor and funding 
requirement.

DATES: Comments are due on or before May 14, 2010; reply comments are 
due on or before May 21, 2010.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by CG Docket No. 03-123, 
by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Federal Communications Commission's Web Site: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs2/. Follow the instructions for submitting 
comments.
     People with Disabilities: Contact the FCC to request 
reasonable accommodations (accessible format documents, sign language 
interpreters, CART, etc.) by e-mail: [email protected] or phone: 202-418-
0530 or TTY: 202-418-0432.
For detailed instructions for submitting comments and additional 
information on the rulemaking process, see the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Diane Mason, Consumer and Governmental 
Affairs Bureau, Disability Rights Office, at (202) 418-7126 (voice), 
(202) 418-7828 (TTY), or e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a synopsis of the Commission's 
document DA 10-761, adopted and released on April 30, 2010. The 
complete text of DA 10-761, NECA's submission and any subsequently 
filed documents in this matter will be available during regular 
business hours at the FCC Reference Center, Portals II, 445 12th 
Street, SW., Room CY-A257, Washington, DC 20554, (202) 418-0270. 
Document DA 10-761, NECA's submission and any subsequently filed 
documents in this matter may also be purchased from the Commission's 
duplicating contractor at its Web site, http://www.bcpiweb.com, or call 
1-800-378-3160. A copy of the submission may also be found by searching 
on ECFS (insert CG Docket No. 03-123 into the Proceeding block).
    Pursuant to 47 CFR 1.415 and 1.419, interested parties may file 
comments on this document. All filings must reference CG Docket No. 03-
123. Comments may be filed using: (1) The Commission's Electronic 
Comment Filing System (ECFS), (2) the Federal Government's eRulemaking 
Portal, or (3) by filing paper copies. Comments may be filed 
electronically using the Internet by accessing the ECFS: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs or the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Filers should follow the instructions provided on 
the Web site for submitting comments. In completing the transmittal 
screen, commenters should include their full name, U.S. Postal Service 
mailing address, and CG Docket No. 03-123.

[[Page 26702]]

Parties may also submit an electronic comment by Internet e-mail. To 
get filing instructions, filers should send an e-mail to [email protected], 
and include the following words in the body of the message: ``get 
form.'' A sample form and directions will be sent in response.
    Parties who choose to file by paper must file an original and four 
copies of each filing. Filings can be sent by hand or messenger 
delivery, by commercial overnight courier, or by first-class or 
overnight U.S. Postal Service mail. All filings must be addressed to 
the Commission's Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal 
Communications Commission. All hand-delivered or messenger-delivered 
paper filings for the Commission's Secretary must be delivered to FCC 
Headquarters at 445 12th St., SW., Room TW-A325, Washington, DC 20554. 
The filing hours are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. All hand deliveries must be held 
together with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes must be disposed 
of before entering the building. Commercial overnight mail (other than 
U.S. Postal Service Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to 
9300 East Hampton Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743. U.S. Postal Service 
first-class, Express, and Priority mail must be addressed to 445 12th 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20554.
    Parties who choose to file by paper should also submit their 
comments on CD-Rom. The CD-Rom should be submitted, along with three 
paper copies, to: Dana Wilson, Consumer and Governmental Affairs 
Bureau, Disability Rights Office, 445 12th Street, SW., Room 3-C418, 
Washington, DC 20554. Such a submission should be on CD-Rom formatted 
in an IBM compatible format using Word 2003 or compatible software. The 
CD-Rom should be accompanied by a cover letter and should be submitted 
in ``read only'' mode. The CD-Rom should be clearly labeled with the 
commenter's name, proceeding (including the lead docket number, in this 
case, CG Docket No. 03-123), type of pleading (comment or reply 
comment), date of submission, and the name of the electronic file on 
the CD-Rom. The label should also include the following phrase: ``CD-
Rom Copy--Not an Original.'' Each CD-Rom should contain only one 
party's pleadings, preferably in a single electronic file. In addition, 
commenters must send CD-Rom copies to the Commission's copy contractor, 
Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554.
    To request materials in accessible formats for people with 
disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), 
send an e-mail to [email protected] or call the Consumer and Governmental 
Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (TTY). This 
document can also be downloaded in Word and Portable Document Format 
(PDF) at: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro/trs.html.

Synopsis

    On April 30, 2010, pursuant to 47 CFR 64.604(c)(5)(iii)(H), NECA 
submitted its annual payment formulas and funding requirement estimates 
for the Fund for the period of July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2011. The 
Bureau seeks comment on NECA's proposed compensation rates for TRS, 
STS, CTS, IP CTS, IP Relay, and VRS, for the 2010-2011 Fund year, as 
well as on NECA's proposals for the carrier contribution factor and 
funding requirement.
    With respect to VRS, the Bureau is particularly seeking comment on 
whether the Commission should adopt NECA's proposed rates for the 2010-
2011 Fund year based on the 2009 average actual historical costs 
reported in the data submitted to NECA by VRS providers. In this 
regard, document DA 10-761 also seeks to refresh the record on the 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking portion of the 2009 PN and NPRM, which 
sought comment on whether VRS tiered rates should be recalculated based 
on data reflecting the actual costs of providing VRS. 
Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for 
Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities, Public Notice and 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, CG Docket No. 03-123, FCC 09-39, 
published at 74 FR 23815, May 21, 2009 (2009 PN and NPRM). In the past, 
the Commission has relied on projected costs to determine the 
compensation rate. NECA proposes a set of tiered rates for VRS: Tier I 
includes monthly minutes up to 50,000; Tier II includes monthly minutes 
between 50,001 and 500,000; and Tier III includes monthly minutes above 
500,000. In one of its proposals, on which the Bureau is particularly 
seeking comment, NECA then calculates the rate within each tier using 
weighted averages of VRS providers' actual historical cost data for 
2009, including allowances of 1.6% for cash working capital, 3.2% for 
growth, and $0.0083 per minute for ongoing E911 and ten-digit numbering 
costs. This calculation results in rates of $5.7754 for Tier I, $6.0318 
for Tier II, and $3.8963 for Tier III. The Bureau also particularly 
seeks comment on whether the Commission should adopt 2010-2011 interim 
Fund Year rates based on NECA's proposed use of weighted averages in 
calculating each of the tiers.
    NECA also proposes the following per-minute compensation rates for 
all other forms of TRS: $2.256 for interstate traditional TRS; $3.1566 
for STS; $1.6951 for CTS and IP CTS; $1.2985 for IP Relay. Based on 
these rates, NECA proposes a carrier contribution factor of between 
0.00379 and 0.00908, and a funding requirement of between $280.8 
million and $673.3 million.

Mark Stone,
Deputy Bureau Chief, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Federal 
Communications Commission.
[FR Doc. 2010-11326 Filed 5-11-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P