Ex-FCC Chair Martin Defends His Actions
22 01 2009All..
The very first thing in his letter that he defended was his actions with telecommunications relay service. Discussed the rates of VRS; said it was under his reign that VRS prices were lowered, and then went on to say that he defended current rates based on the deaf/hoh communities feedback.
(Note: see how important it is to send emails/letters/faxes, etc to the FCC – they do read them even though it may "feel" like they are not.)
Martin Letter Defends His Actions
In reading his defense, it is apparent that he is a republican, and he believes that letting business industry take care of their problems are the best model.
I will let history speak on whether this is the right decision or not. Anyway, it is worth reading his defense, and, granted – a few remarks that was said makes sense – some I felt were based purely on political maneuvering.
eyes open & thumbs up,
Ed
Ed, thanks for sharing this.
In New Mexico, SB 79 was introduced yesterday (01/21/2009). That bill will raid the NM TRS fund and transfer $8 million dollars to the general fund. That money built up in the fund because Deaf/deaf are not using local TTY relay.
The BIG problem is – we can see from Martin’s response to the Majority Staff report – things are about to change. Now that we have local numbering, the FCC and NECA can stop funding VRS and give it back to the states.
States will need lots of start up money. In New Mexico, we need to get reliable affordable broadband out to Deaf/deaf living in rural areas and subsidize broadband for that portion of Deaf/deaf living in poverty in the cities.
When the NM legislature takes away the $8 million already in the fund and when the FCC hands off VRS to the states, we may lose access to VRS services in New Mexico!
Eek! Time for the Deaf/deaf community to pay attention to their local state TRS funds!!!
(jk-II)
Jane,
Eek is right! Quite a few state relay administrators share same concerns as yours. The Number Order is now required, but VRS providers have yet to meet all the specified requirements. So while the VRS Industry, FCC and NeuStar work things out, we have a reprieve…but for how long?
Yes, Deaf/HOH need to be alert and take appropriate actions to ensure that the rights and assets of various funding sources are protected for the Deaf/HOH.
eyes open & thumbs up,
Ed
The link doesn’t seem to be working. Please check it.
David et others,
Thanks to Jeff for finding an url addy for the Martin’s letter, I now have the link a-working…
eyes open & thumbs up,
Ed