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 NEWS  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974).  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  TTY:  1-  888-  835-  5322 
 For  Immediate  Release:  News  Media  Contact:  May  3,  2006  Rosemary  Kimball  at  (202)  418-  0511 
 e-  mail:  rosemary.  kimball@  fcc.  gov 
 FCC  DECLARES  VIDEO  RELAY  SERVICE  (VRS)  PROVIDERS  MUST  PROVIDE  INTEROPERABILITY  WITH  COMPETING  PROVIDERS 


 Commission  Also  Asks  for  Comment  on  How  Hearing  Callers  Can  Reach  VRS  Providers  And  On  Whether  Speech  Internet  Protocols  Should  Be  Adopted  for  VRS  Equipment. 
 In  response  to  a  petition  by  the  California  Coalition  of  Agencies  Serving  the  Deaf  and  Hard  of  Hearing,  the  FCC  has  found  that  all  VRS  consumers  must  be  able  to  place  a  VRS  call 
 through  any  VRS  provider’s  service,  and  all  VRS  providers  must  be  able  to  receive  calls  from,  and  make  calls  to,  any  VRS  consumer.  The  Commission  also  determined  that  restricting  the  use 
 of  a  provider’s  VRS  service  so  that  consumers  cannot  access  other  VRS  providers  is  inconsistent  with  the  functional  equivalency  mandate,  the  public  interest  and  the  intent  of  Congress. 


 VRS  is  a  form  of  the  Telecommunications  Relay  Service  (TRS)  that  enables  persons  who  use  American  Sign  Language  (ASL)  to  communicate  with  voice  telephone  users.  Video 
 equipment  links  the  VRS  user  with  a  relay  operator  –  called  a  “communications  assistant”  (CA)  –  so  that  the  VRS  user  and  the  CA  can  see  and  communicate  with  each  other  in  ASL.  The  CA 
 translates  the  signed  language  into  spoken  language  for  the  hearing  party  on  the  call.  Because  of  its  speed,  VRS  has  become  an  enormously  popular  form  of  TRS. 


 In  its  Declaratory  Ruling,  the  Commission  declared  it  inconsistent  with  the  notion  of  functional  equivalency  to  require  VRS  consumers  to  have  multiple  sets  of  equipment  to  be 
 connected  to  multiple  providers.  It  noted  that  public  safety  concerns  are  raised  when  a  consumer  has  VRS  equipment  that  can  be  used  only  with  one  provider’s  service. 


 In  an  accompanying  Further  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking,  the  Commission  asked  for  comment  on  the  creation  of  an  open  and  global  database  of  proxy  numbers  for  VRS  consumers, 
 so  that  that  a  hearing  person  may  call  a  VRS  consumer  more  easily.  The  Commission  also  asked  for  comment  on  whether  it  should  adopt  specific  Internet  protocols  or  standards  to  ensure 
 interoperability. 
 Action  by  the  Commission  May  3,  2006,  by  Declaratory  Ruling  and  NPRM  (FCC  06-  57).  Chairman  Martin,  Commissioners  Copps,  Adelstein  and  Tate  with  separate  statements  being 
 issued  by  Chairman  Martin  and  Commissioners  Copps,  Adelstein  and  Tate 
 -  FCC  - 
 FCC  Contact:  Greg  Hlibok  at  (202)  418-  8124c(  voice);  (202)  418-  0431  (TTY) 
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