Ed’s Telecom Alert

National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc submits a revised cost for  TRS Contribution Factor (telephone companies that pay into Interstate TRS Fund).    

Be warned, though, that this is report that only CPA loves.    ;-]

Quotes: 

"Actual demand for interstate relay services, particularly Video Relay Service (VRS), has significantly under-run the projections the Administrator submitted in its annual filing for the July 2009 – June 2010 funding year (2009 Administrator Filing).1    The result is an estimated decrease in the fund size from $891.0 million to $ 701.8 million."

"Lower than projected demand for TRS services, particularly Video Relay Service has created a significant surplus in the Interstate TRS Fund. Therefore the TRS Administrator proposes a revised fund size of $701.8 million and a revised contribution factor of 0.00886 for TRS for the 2009-2010 funding year."

NECA New Contribution Factor

eyes open & thumbs up,

Ed

Tom Chandler who has worked in the FCC 7 1/2 years as Chief of Disability Rights Office (DRO) wrote his farewell letter.   Today – March 26, 2010 is his last day with FCC.  

For those who may raise eyebrow on what the heck DRO is.  DRO is the responsible department for overseeing relay services which includes VRS.   Tom is the Chief of that department.  

Farewell Letter from Tom Chandler

Tom and I have mutual respect for each other even though we often disagree on various issues.    This letter is no different; there are a few things I disagree, but it is his wish to share the letter with the world.   So here it is.  

I will not do any quotable quotes as the letter is pretty much self-explanatory.  

eyes open & thumbs up,

Looks like Congress folks have noticed the recent FCC ruling. Five members of Congress have written a letter to the FCC regarding FCC’s recent ruling on VRS.   

Inslee and Woolsey Letter

Other congress folks on the signature:  Eliot Engel, Mary BonoMack and Barbara Lee. 

Quotables:

"The Commission’s decision on how minutes generated by employees of relay providers are reimbursed through the Fund as business expenses could lead to unintended, but discriminatory, treatment of deaf/ hard of hearing, speech disabled, and deaf-blind employees."

"We also urge the Commission to make such decisions in the future exclusively through a notice and comment process to enable a wide range of input to aid the Commission in developing thorough and sound policies that ensure the provision of stale and functionally equivalent telecommunications access for deaf, hard of hearing, speech disabled and deaf-blind people." 

eyes open & thumbs up,

Ed Bosson

Long Link: