[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 182 (Wednesday, September 21, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 57645-57648]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-20106]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 64

[CG Docket Nos. 03-123, 10-51, 13-24; FCC 22-51; FR ID 104192]


VRS and IP CTS--Commencement of Service Pending User Registration

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC 
or Commission) adopts a two-week ``grace period'' to allow Video Relay 
Service (VRS) and Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service (IP 
CTS) providers to commence service to new or porting-in users while the 
user's identity is verified by the Telecommunications Relay Services 
(TRS) User Registration Database. These actions will increase the 
efficiency of the registration process, avoid unnecessary service 
delays, and ensure that TRS users' experience in ordering new service 
or porting service to a new TRS provider is comparable to that of voice 
telephone service users.

DATES: The rules are effective October 21, 2022, except for the 
amendments to Sec. Sec.  64.611 (amendatory instruction 3) and 64.615 
(amendatory instruction 4), which are delayed. The Commission will 
publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective 
dates.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Wallace, Disability Rights 
Office, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, at 202-418-2716, or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's Report 
and Order, document FCC 22-51, adopted June 28, 2022, released June 30, 
2022, in CG Docket Nos. 03-123, 10-51, and 13-24. The Commission sought 
comment on the two-week grace period issue in Misuse of Internet 
Protocol (IP) Captioned Telephone Service; Telecommunications Relay 
Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and 
Speech Disabilities, Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, CG Docket 
Nos. 13-24 and 03-123, published at 84 FR 9276, March 14, 2019 (2019 IP 
CTS Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM)) and in Structure and 
Practices of the Video Relay Service Program; Telecommunications Relay 
Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and 
Speech Disabilities, Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, CG Docket 
Nos. 10-51 and 03-123, published at 84 FR 26379, June 6, 2019 (2019 VRS 
FNPRM).
    The full text of document FCC 22-51 can be accessed electronically 
via the FCC's Electronic Document Management System (EDOCS) website at 
www.fcc.gov/edocs or via the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System 
(ECFS) website at www.fcc.gov/ecfs. To request materials in accessible 
formats for people with disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic 
files, audio format), send an email to [email protected], or call the 
Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice) or 
(202) 418-0432 (TTY).

Synopsis

    1. User Registration and Verification. TRS are telephone 
transmission services that enable people with speech or hearing 
disabilities to communicate by wire or radio in a manner that is 
functionally equivalent to communication using voice services. Under 
section 225 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the Act), 47 
U.S.C. 225, the Commission must ensure that TRS are available ``to the 
extent possible and in the most efficient manner'' to persons ``in the 
United States'' who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deafblind or who have 
speech disabilities, so that they can communicate by telephone in a 
manner that is functionally equivalent to voice communication service. 
VRS, a form of TRS, enables people with hearing or speech disabilities 
who use sign language to make telephone calls over a broadband 
connection using a video communication device. The video link allows a 
communications assistant (CA) to view and interpret the party's signed 
conversation and relay the conversation back and forth with a voice 
caller. IP CTS, another form of TRS, permits a person with hearing loss 
to have a telephone conversation while reading captions of what the 
other party is saying on an internet-connected device.
    2. Before commencing service to a subscriber, a VRS or IP CTS 
provider must register the user by collecting certain identifying 
information, as well as a signed self-certification of eligibility for 
TRS. In addition, registration data for VRS users must be submitted to 
the Commission's centralized TRS User Registration Database (User 
Database or Database). IP CTS user registration data also will be 
submitted and maintained in the Database once it is activated for that 
purpose. Upon receiving the registration data for a newly registered 
TRS user, the Database administrator verifies the user's identity. 
Providers are prohibited from seeking compensation for service to users 
who do not pass this identity verification check.
    3. Although User Database registration is usually completed within 
hours of data submission, it may take longer if the administrator's 
initial attempt to verify a registrant's identity is unsuccessful, 
requiring the provider to obtain corrected information or additional 
documentation from the registrant. The two-week ``grace period'' will 
allow VRS and IP CTS providers to immediately begin serving new or 
porting-in users without waiting for the verification process to 
complete, thereby promoting the availability and

[[Page 57646]]

efficiency of TRS. Moreover, by allowing customers to make and receive 
TRS calls during the grace period, those users are better able to 
obtain the documentation and information needed to verify their 
identities. Because providers will not be compensated for calls made 
during the two-week grace period unless and until the customer is 
successfully entered into the Database, this rule change will not 
increase any risk of TRS Fund payment for ineligible calls or otherwise 
contribute to waste, fraud, or abuse of TRS Fund resources.
    4. Alternative Proposals. The Commission rejects proposals to 
extend the grace period beyond two weeks as unnecessary. Moreover, 
extending the grace period for individuals who are deafblind or who are 
deaf with additional disabilities would increase the complexity of 
administering the registration process as a whole and is unwarranted in 
the absence of actual evidence of a need for additional time.
    5. Limitations on Number Reassignments. In the case of VRS, and in 
the event verification of registration data for a newly assigned TRS 
telephone number is not completed within two weeks, the telephone 
number should not be immediately reassigned. Under the current as well 
as the newly adopted rules, a new number is not entered in the Database 
until such time as the user's identity is verified. Therefore, if 
registration data for a new telephone number is submitted to the 
Database, and the user's identity has not been verified within the two-
week grace period, then the number shall not be entered in the 
Database, and no provider may request compensation for compensable 
calls from that number after expiration of the two-week period. 
Similarly, the new telephone number and associated routing information, 
which were entered in the Telephone Numbering Directory to allow calls 
to be made to and from the new number on a provisional basis, shall be 
removed from the Directory. As a result, upon expiration of the two-
week period, the number will not be usable until such time as the 
user's identity is verified or the number is reassigned to a different 
customer. Because the consumer has already begun using the submitted 
number, he or she should not be automatically deprived of the 
opportunity to recommence service with the same number, if verification 
is successfully completed within a reasonable period after the two 
weeks expires. Therefore, even if verification cannot be completed 
within the two-week grace period, the submitting provider shall retain 
that number in inactive status, for an additional period of 30 days or 
the pendency of any appeal, whichever is later, before reassigning it 
to a new user or otherwise making it available for re-use. If the 
user's identity is later verified, the telephone number may be entered 
in the Database at that time and calls made to or from the number from 
that time forward may be submitted for compensation.
    6. When an existing TRS telephone number has been ported, a failure 
to verify the number within the two-week grace period will have 
somewhat different consequences. Under the current rules, when a number 
is being ported, the Database registration of that number is not 
changed to designate the porting-in VRS provider until the registration 
data collected by the porting-in provider has been verified. By 
adopting the grace period, the Commission permits a port to be 
completed on a provisional basis, pending verification of the 
registration data submitted by the porting-in provider. Therefore, the 
porting-in provider's routing information shall be entered in the TRS 
Numbering Directory, so that during the two-week grace period, calls to 
and from the ported number are handled by the porting-in VRS provider. 
However, the number will continue to be registered in the User Database 
under the name of the porting-out VRS provider until the registration 
data submitted by the porting-in provider has been verified. If such 
verification is not completed within the two-week grace period, then 
the port will be reversed, and the porting-out provider's routing 
information will be re-entered in the TRS Numbering Directory. In the 
event that verification of a ported number is not completed within the 
grace period, neither the porting-out nor porting-in provider may seek 
compensation for calls placed to or from the ported number during those 
two weeks.
    7. Technical Corrections to TRS Rules. This document amends Sec.  
64.604(d) of the Commission's rules to delete an obsolete cross-
reference. Section 64.604(d) of the Commission's rules provides that 
the applicable requirements of certain provisions of the Commission's 
rules are to be considered mandatory minimum standards for TRS. Among 
the listed provisions is Sec.  64.617 of the Commission's rules, which 
was repealed in 2017. The cross-reference to that provision in Sec.  
64.604(d) of the Commission's rules was not deleted.
    8. Good cause exists to make this correction without prior notice 
and comment. The cross-reference is clearly incorrect and without any 
substantive effect, now that Sec.  64.617 of the Commission's rules has 
been deleted. The correction is therefore simply a conforming change to 
the Commission's rules.
    9. The Commission also makes a technical correction to Sec.  
64.604(c)(5)(iii)(D)(1) of its rules, which addresses data reporting 
requirements. The four bold, italicized words below were inadvertently 
deleted from the following excerpt from the previous version of that 
provision: ``TRS providers shall provide the administrator with the 
following: total TRS minutes of use, total interstate TRS minutes of 
use, total operating expenses and total TRS investment in general in 
accordance with part 32 of this chapter . . .'' The correction restores 
the inadvertently deleted text.

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

    10. As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as 
amended (RFA), the Commission incorporated an Initial Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) into both the 2019 VRS FNPRM and the 2019 
IP CTS FNPRM. The Commission sought written public comment on the 
proposals in both FNPRMs, including comment on the IRFAs. No comments 
were received in response to the IRFAs.
    11. Need for, and Objectives of, the Rules. This document addresses 
the procedures for registering users of certain forms of TRS and 
verifying their identities in the User Database. The purpose of these 
rules is to ensure that only persons with hearing and speech 
disabilities who are eligible to use TRS can make calls that are 
compensated from the Interstate TRS Fund. Providers of VRS and IP CTS 
cannot receive compensation from the Fund unless the caller is 
registered in, and has had his or her identity verified, in the User 
Database.
    12. The Commission adopts a two-week grace period during which VRS 
and IP CTS providers can handle calls for new and porting-in customers 
after submitting the user's registration information while identity 
verification is pending and receive compensation for the calls as long 
as the user's identity is ultimately verified in the User Database as 
eligible for TRS within the same two-week period from the initial 
submission of the user's registration information. The Commission 
concludes that the grace period will improve functional equivalency for 
individuals with hearing and speech disabilities because it will allow 
them to start making calls immediately with their TRS provider, just as 
most voice customers of landline and mobile services can start using 
the service when they sign up for service.

[[Page 57647]]

    13. The Commission finds that the two-week grace period will not 
contribute to waste, fraud, and abuse of the TRS Fund. If the user is 
verified, then his or her calls during the two-week period are eligible 
for compensation. If the user is not verified, then the VRS or IP CTS 
provider will not be compensated for the calls. Accordingly, the TRS 
Fund will not be paying for ineligible calls.
    14. Summary of Significant Issues Raised by Public Comments in 
Response to the IRFA. No comments were filed in response to either 
IRFA.
    15. Response to Comments by the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 
Small Business Administration. The Chief Counsel did not file any 
comments in response to the proposed rules in this proceeding.
    16. Description and Estimate of the Number of Small Entities to 
which the Rules will Apply. The amendments to rules adopted in this 
document will affect the obligations of VRS and IP CTS providers. These 
services can be included within the broad economic category of All 
Other Telecommunications.
    17. Description of Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other 
Compliance Requirements. In allowing VRS and IP CTS providers to 
receive compensation for up to two weeks while the identity 
verification is pending for new users and users changing providers for 
calls by or to such users, the Commission retains the reporting, 
recordkeeping, and other compliance requirements currently applicable 
to VRS and IP CTS providers and adopts minor modified reporting 
requirements related to the timing for requesting compensation for 
calls by and to such users.
    18. For new users and users changing providers, VRS and IP CTS 
providers must track what calls are made by and to such users while 
their identity verification remains pending and only seek compensation 
from the Interstate TRS Fund for those call minutes within the two-week 
grace period if the user's identity is verified by the User Database 
administrator before the end of that period. For users whose identify 
cannot be verified within the two-week period, VRS and IP CTS providers 
can only seek compensation for calls by and to the user if and when the 
user's identity has been verified.
    19. These modified requirements are no more burdensome than those 
currently applicable to VRS and IP CTS providers and are needed to 
ensure compliance with the Commission's rules and protect against 
waste, fraud, and abuse of the TRS program.
    20. Steps Taken to Minimize Significant Impact on Small Entities, 
and Significant Alternatives Considered. The new rule does not impose 
any modified requirements that would increase regulatory burdens beyond 
those that are already required. The modified requirements apply 
equally to all VRS and IP CTS providers and are necessary to prevent 
waste, fraud, and abuse of the TRS Fund by ensuring that providers are 
not compensated for service provided to users who do not satisfy the 
verification requirements.

Ordering Clauses

    21. Pursuant to sections 1, 2, and 225 of the Communications Act of 
1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 151, 152, and 225, document FCC 22-51 is 
adopted, and the Commission's rules are hereby amended.
    22. The Commission's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, 
Reference Information Center, shall send a copy of document FCC 22-51, 
including the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, to the Chief 
Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration.

Congressional Review Act

    The Commission sent a copy of document FCC 22-51 to Congress and 
the Government Accountability Office pursuant to the Congressional 
Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A).

Final Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 Analysis

    This document contains modified information collection 
requirements, which are not effective until approval is obtained from 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). As part of its continuing 
effort to reduce paperwork burdens, the Commission will invite the 
general public to comment on the information collection requirements as 
required by the PRA of 1995, Public Law 104-13. The Commission will 
publish a separate document in the Federal Register announcing approval 
of the information collection requirements. Pursuant to the Small 
Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, Public Law 107-198, 44 U.S.C. 
3506(c)(4), the Commission previously sought comment on how the 
Commission might ``further reduce the information burden for small 
business concerns with fewer than 25 employees.'' 84 FR 9276, March 14, 
2019; 84 FR 26379, June 6, 2019.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 64

    Individuals with disabilities, Telecommunications, Telephone.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.

Final Regulations

    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Federal 
Communications Commission amends 47 CFR part 64 as follows:

PART 64--MISCELLANEOUS RULES RELATING TO COMMON CARRIERS

0
1. The authority citation for part 64 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  47 U.S.C. 151, 152, 154, 201, 202, 217, 218, 220, 
222, 225, 226, 227, 227b, 228, 251(a), 251(e), 254(k), 255, 262, 
276, 403(b)(2)(B), (c), 616, 620, 716, 1401-1473, unless otherwise 
noted; Pub. L. 115-141, Div. P, sec. 503, 132 Stat. 348, 1091.


0
2. Amend Sec.  64.604 by revising paragraphs (c)(5)(iii)(D)(1) and (d) 
to read as follows:


Sec.  64.604  Mandatory minimum standards.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (5) * * *
    (iii) * * *
    (D) * * *
    (1) Cost and demand data. TRS providers seeking compensation from 
the TRS Fund shall provide the administrator with true and adequate 
data, and other historical, projected and state rate related 
information reasonably requested to determine the TRS Fund revenue 
requirements and payments. TRS providers shall provide the 
administrator with the following: total TRS minutes of use, total 
interstate TRS minutes of use, total operating expenses and total TRS 
investment in general in accordance with part 32 of this chapter, and 
other historical or projected information reasonably requested by the 
administrator for purposes of computing payments and revenue 
requirements. In annual cost data filings and supplementary information 
provided to the administrator regarding such cost data, IP CTS 
providers that contract for the supply of services used in the 
provision of TRS shall include information about payments under such 
contracts, classified according to the substantive cost categories 
specified by the administrator. To the extent that a third party's 
provision of services covers more than one cost category, the 
resubmitted cost reports must provide an explanation of how the 
provider determined or calculated the portion of contractual payments 
attributable to each cost category. To the extent that the 
administrator reasonably deems necessary, providers shall submit 
additional detail on such contractor

[[Page 57648]]

expenses, including but not limited to complete copies of such 
contracts and related correspondence or other records and information 
relevant to determining the nature of the services provided and the 
allocation of the costs of such services to cost categories.
* * * * *
    (d) Other standards. The applicable requirements of Sec.  9.14 of 
this chapter and Sec. Sec.  64.611, 64.615, 64.621, 64.631, 64.632, 
64.5105, 64.5107, 64.5108, 64.5109, and 64.5110 are to be considered 
mandatory minimum standards.

0
3. Delayed indefinitely, amend Sec.  64.611 by:
0
a. Revising paragraph (a)(4)(iii);
0
b. Adding paragraph (a)(4)(iv);
0
c. Redesignating paragraph (j)(2)(v) as paragraph (j)(2)(vi); and
0
d. Adding a new paragraph (j)(2)(v).
    The revision and additions read as follows:


Sec.  64.611  Internet-based TRS registration.

    (a) * * *
    (4) * * *
    (iii) VRS providers must submit the information in the introductory 
text of paragraph (a)(4) of this section upon initiation of service for 
users registered after 60 days of notice from the Commission that the 
TRS User Registration Database is ready to accept such information. VRS 
providers may provide service to such users for up to two weeks after 
the user's registration information has been submitted to the TRS User 
Registration Database pending verification of the user's identity. 
After the user's identity is verified by the Database administrator, 
VRS providers may seek TRS Fund compensation for calls handled during 
such pre-verification period of up to two weeks.
    (iv) If a VRS user's registration data submitted pursuant to 
paragraph (a)(4)(iii) of this section is not verified by the TRS User 
Registration Database administrator within two weeks after submission, 
the VRS provider shall hold the assigned number for up to 30 days or 
the pendency of an appeal, whichever is later, pending the outcome of 
any further efforts to complete verification, before returning the 
number to inactive status or assigning it to another user. If a VRS 
user's identity is verified within such 30-day period, or during the 
pendency of an appeal, whichever is later, the administrator may enter 
the number into the Database (and the TRS Numbering Directory) as 
assigned to that user.
* * * * *
    (j) * * *
    (2) * * *
    (v) IP CTS providers may provide service to new users for up to two 
weeks after the user's registration information has been submitted to 
the TRS User Registration Database pending verification of the user's 
identity. After a user's identity is verified by the Database 
administrator, IP CTS providers may seek TRS Fund compensation for 
calls handled during such pre-verification period.
* * * * *

0
4. Delayed indefinitely, amend Sec.  64.615 by adding paragraphs 
(a)(6)(v) and (vi) to read as follows:


Sec.  64.615  TRS User Registration Database and administrator.

    (a) * * *
    (6) * * *
    (v) Notwithstanding paragraphs (a)(6)(ii) through (iv) of this 
section, VRS and IP CTS providers may provide service to a new or 
porting user for up to two weeks after the user's registration 
information has been submitted to the TRS User Registration Database, 
pending verification of the user's identity. After such user's identity 
is verified by the Database administrator, a TRS provider may seek TRS 
Fund compensation for calls handled during such pre-verification 
period.
    (vi) If a VRS provider submits registration information for a TRS 
telephone number that is being ported from another VRS provider, and 
user's identity cannot be immediately verified, then the porting-in 
provider's routing information for that telephone number shall be 
provisionally entered in the TRS Numbering Directory for up to two 
weeks to allow the routing of calls to the porting-in VRS provider 
pursuant to paragraph (a)(6)(v) of this section. If the user's identity 
is not verified by the TRS User Registration Database administrator 
within the allowed two-week period, the porting-out provider's routing 
information shall be re-entered in the TRS Number Directory.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2022-20106 Filed 9-20-22; 8:45 am]
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