Ed’s Telecom Alert

Folks…

This is non-TRS issue, but this article is interesting and it is about the technology innovations that continually tries to sate the appetite for faster and faster-still broadband speeds.

Insatiable Hunger

Quotable quotes:

"OUR taste for the Internet is insatiable — traffic is growing so fast that its transmission systems may soon be filled to capacity. But scientists are coping, finding ingenious ways to satisfy our deep bandwidth hunger."

"A fiber is no thicker than human hair, but can carry many wavelengths of laser light, with each wavelength adding to the bits transmitted per second. The bit rates now attainable are in the billions (gigabits) per second or even trillions (terabits) per second."

"..in the new system from Alcatel-Lucent, two binary digits or bits can be encoded by using four phases of light. And the polarized light can vibrate up and down or sideways. In this way, four bits of data can be transmitted per time slot instead of one.."

I really do not fully understand the last two statements, but they look impressive and innovative.   To think that bit rates can do as much terabits per second is really mind-boggling.  

eyes open & thumbs up,
 
Ed

Insatiable Hunger Long Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/business/10novel.html

Folks,

I’ve already posted the FCC Public Notice on access for low blind, low vision and deaf blind, but wanted to share a blind person’s perspective of this access issue. 

Access Bill

Quotable quotes:

"Today marks a huge step forward for people with disabilities," said Paul Schroeder, VP, Programs & Policy for the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB). "Once enacted, this legislation will ensure that the 25 million Americans with vision loss, and the millions more with other disabilities, can fully take part in the digital era. It will improve job opportunities, education opportunities, and more."

"Legislation can’t solve everything, but it can chart a course for the future," said Mark Richert, Policy Director for AFB and a principal negotiator with the communications and TV industries. "For millions of Americans just like me who have been largely shut out of the amazing technologies most people take for granted today, the new law means we’ll be able to work more productively, respond to emergencies more safely and effectively, and participate even more in society and culture. It’s about moving from isolation and dependence to inclusion and opportunity.""

eyes open & thumbs up,

Ed

Access Bill Long Link: http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?DocumentID=5318

Folks,

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) did an audit on IRS’s Toll-Free Telephone Tax Assistance Service which includes TTY telephone number for IRS Tax Assistance.

TIGTA showed that hearing person’s access to tax assistance improved, but NOT for the deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals.   You will need to scroll down to about half way through on this report to get to the issues regarding deaf and hard-of-hearing issues.  IRS acknowledged that TTY is becoming obsolete; however, IRS feels need to provide tax assistance for those who continue to use TTY (commendable, but did IRS go far enough to meet ALL needs of deaf or hard-of-hearing?). 

IRS Report

Quotable quotes:

"..hearing- and speech-impaired callers that used the IRS Text Tele-typewriter/Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TTY/TDD) telephone line experienced a low Level of Service and had difficulty reaching an IRS assistor."

" ..there were more than 318,000 primary abandons and 452 secondary abandons on the TTY/TDD toll-free telephone product line." 

Note: Report did indicate lot of these calls were from hearing persons as well. 

There is more report on "recommendations" that was submitted; not all were followed. Some of the recommendations were, ahem, not most effective (my opinion). 

What I find intriguing is there is no report on how many TRS/VRS calls were made to IRS. They overlooked this significant aspect of tax assistance calls for deaf or hard-of-hearing persons.   It would help them effectively audit the calls made by the deaf or hard-of-hearing persons for tax assistance.    Seems major oversight. 

Personal experience: I did in fact call IRS in the past with the TTY Toll-Free Assistance Service, and in the end I gave up and used online database which was not that easy either.  Finally I had to ask a CPA person for assistance.   So in my case, IRS Toll-Free Telephone Assistance Service was a failure.  

eyes open & thumbs up,

Ed

IRS Report Long LInk:  http://www.treas.gov/tigta/auditreports/2010reports/201040108fr.pdf

All..

Now what remains is for President to ink it to become the law.   It provides access for the blind as well as for deaf/hoh. 

Congress Votes

Quotable quotes: 

"iPhones and Blackberrys will have to be compatible with hearing aids under legislation Congress has sent to the president."

"Require that video programming devices such as MP3 players and digital video recorders be capable of closed captioning and video description."

"Provide the deaf with the ability to watch new TV programs online with captions included."

eyes open & thumbs up,

Ed

Long Link: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/09/30/congress_votes_to_give_disabled_better_web_tv_access/