Ed’s Telecom Alert

Folks..

My apologies to those who already got this, but I thought worth posting for those who may have not seen that one.   

ICED Resolution

Quote

"Therefore we:

• Reject all resolutions passed at the ICED Milan Congress in 1880 that denied the inclusion of sign languages in educational programs for Deaf students;
• Acknowledge and sincerely regret the detrimental effectsof the Milan conference; and
• Call upon all Nations of the world to remember history and ensure that educational programs accept and respect all languages and all forms of communication."

My reaction?   YAHOO and HUZZAH!    

eyes open & thumbs up,

Ed

Long Link:

ICED – http://www.iced2010.com/pdf/Statement%20of%20Principle%20and%20Accord%20for%20the%20Future%281%29.pdf

All..

Here are misc news of happenings recently – short ones.

4 Petitioners Motion

"An extension of time is necessary and in the public interest to allow interested parties to gather information, conduct meaningful dialogue concerning the intertwined and dynamic issues presented with respect to video relay service (“VRS”), and to allow commenter to develop meaningful in-depth positions concerning this critical proceeding."

"Such an extension is particularly warranted in light of the Commission’s desire for input on so many varying critical questions relating to the VRS program’s effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability, as is the case here.
Petitioners therefore submit that a reasonably moderate extension of the comment deadline will enable stakeholders to more thoroughly evaluate and respond to the NOI and thus provide more substantive, thorough and thoughtful comments."

FCC Denies SVRS’s Stay Motion

Basically FCC denies SVRS’s Stay Motion.  Here is a quote:

"Although Sorenson nominally seeks a "stay," it asks not just that we stay the interim rates, but also that we take affirmative steps to re-institute the former VRS rate that expired on June 30, 2010. For the reasons set forth below, we deny the request."

As result, SVRS now seeks court to overturn the FCC’s decision.    

Contribution Factor

Contribution factor simply means when National Exchange Carrier Association "collects" from all telephone companies, etc. to "contribute" to Interstate TRS Fund.  Interstate TRS Fund is what reimburses all relay providers.

The pertinent quote that basically address the main issue:

"Based on the adoption of these rates and NECA’s proposals, the Commission hereby adopts a carrier contribution factor of 0.00585, and a funding requirement of $433,990,484.98 for the 2010-2011 Fund year.11    The Commission adopts these rates, and this contribution factor and funding requirement, for a period of one year, except as otherwise provided herein."

eyes open & thumbs up,

Ed

Long Links:

4 Petitioners – http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view?id=7020550986
FCC Denies – http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view?id=7020549754
Contribution – https://prodnet.www.neca.org/publicationsdocs/wwpdf/fcc10115.pdf

All..

Ladies and Gentlemen, this NOI is very important and MOST certainly will have a far-reaching impact on defining exactly what VRS is and the rationale for compensation rates for VRS providers.   This NOI will be exhausitive undertaking for sure.

FCC quote:

"In this Notice of Inquiry (NOI), we take a fresh look at the Commission’s video relay service (VRS) rules so that we can ensure that this vital program is effective, efficient, and sustainable in the future."

"..a fresh look.." certainly is an understatement of the century!  The FCC is taking a bold steps to of possibly overhauling the infrastructure of VRS. Is that good?  Yes, I believe so, but this is where critical comments are critical.  We – by "we" I mean ALL of us – need to respond to let the FCC know what we think VRS ought to be and how VRS providers should be handled.  

FCC presents NOI in two parts:

Part One: basically seeks whether multiple VRS providers, one or a few should be adopted and why, etc.  

Part Two:  basically asking to whether VRS should be re-defined or not.   If so, how so and in what way, etc.  

Caveat here: above summarization does not tell whole story of the NOI.

The whole purpose of NOI is to gather information from all concerned, and then the FCC will make its final decisions.   Click to the link, and be prepared to cultivate patience as it is a long reading.  

FCC Notice Of Inquiry

Since this is long NOI, best way to show items is via the table of contents which I typed briefly below.

Part I Adjustments and Modifications to Improve the Current VRS
Compensation Methodology
1. Accounting Issues
2. Company-Specific Compensation
3. Outreach and Marketing Costs
4. Research and Development Costs
5. Videophone Equipment
6. Protection of Providers from Under-Compensation and Avoidance of Over-compensation
7. Certification

Part II – Broader and Economic Issues Concerning VRS
1. The Components of VRS
2. The Demand for VRS
3. The Supply of VRS
4. The Regulation of VRS
5. The Incentives of Providers
6. The Incentives and Needs of VRS Users
7. Other Regulations Affecting VRS Communications

Just by looking at the terms used for table of contents, one could say that the FCC is going to collect lot of comments from VRS Industry as well as the movers and shakers of the TRS world.  Again, I cannot stress strongly enough that this is very important NOI and possibly the most important ever in the history of TRS. 

eyes open & thumbs up,

Ed

Long Link: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-10-111A1.pdf

Folks..

The Interim Rates for VRS are finally out…

Basically the FCC Order rejected the NECA’s proposed rates and adopted the following interim rates for VRS. 

Rates

New Tiered Rates:

Tier I      $6.24
Tier II     $6.23
Tier III    $5.07

Past (current) Tiered Rates were:

Tier I    $6.70
Tier II   $6.43
Tier III  $6.24

NECA’s proposed rates were:

Tier I     $5.78
Tier II    $6.03
Tier III   $3.90

Interim means temporary.   This is for one year.    The final rates will be decided after all the comments based on past and future comments from all the comments that have and will address VRS rates. 

At any rate, these rates seem to be reasonable for all concerned – they’re what I would call "workable rates" pending future rates.  

Side note: according to the DebtWire, this seems to be reasonable even for SorensonVRS at Tier III rate as DebtWire indicated that if rates are above $4.90, SVRS will be able to pay its debt obligations and still reap about 140 Million Dollars a year as profit.  

eyes open & thumbs up,

Ed

Long Link: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-10-115A1.pdf