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 STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  DEBORAH  TAYLOR  TATE 
 Re:  Telecommunications  Relay  Services  and  Speech-  to-  Speech  Services  for  Individuals  with  Hearing  and  Speech  Disabilities,  CG  Docket  No.  03-  123 
 Today,  we  not  only  ensure  more  independence  for  the  hearing  impaired,  but,  by  requiring  interoperability  among  Video  Relay  Service  (VRS)  providers  receiving 
 interstate  Telecommunications  Relay  Services  funding,  we  ensure  that  VRS  consumers  are  more  likely  to  have  access  to  this  tool  in  the  event  of  an  emergency. 


 There  are  over  31  million  Americans  with  some  degree  of  hearing  loss.  This  number  is  rising  dramatically  with  the  aging  of  baby  boomers,  and  is  expected  to 
 reach  78  million  by  2030.  I  recently  discussed  the  difficulties  and  challenges  with  one  of  my  good  friends  and  a  respected  attorney  just  diagnosed  with  a  disease  which  causes 
 hearing  loss  for  men  as  they  reach  50.  His  courage  and  faith  touched  me  and  I  hope  to  do  as  much  as  possible  to  keep  all  Americans  connected  to  vital  information,  whether  in 
 everyday  life  or  in  an  emergency. 
 In  March  I  attended  a  meeting  of  the  FCC  Independent  Panel  Reviewing  the  Impact  of  Hurricane  Katrina  on  Communications  Networks  in  Jackson,  Mississippi. 
 At  that  meeting,  Cheryl  Heppner,  a  representative  for  the  Deaf  and  Hard  of  Hearing  Consumer  Advocacy  Network,  reminded  us  that,  in  the  event  of  an  emergency,  while 
 people  with  hearing  loss  use  many  strategies  and  tools  for  communications,  the  very  nature  of  the  emergency  or  disaster  can  stress  those  options  and  take  away  many  tools 
 ordinarily  available  to  the  hearing  impaired. 
 In  the  case  of  Hurricane  Katrina,  for  example,  many  of  the  hearing  impaired  were  cut  off  from  their  support  service  providers  who  facilitate  communication. 
 Moreover,  network  outages  made  it  difficult  or  impossible  for  the  hearing  impaired  to  reach  the  professionals  who  provide  visual  interpretation  to  facilitate  communication  with 
 the  hearing  world.  As  we  review  our  response  to  Hurricane  Katrina,  and  look  to  disaster  plans  that  provider  interoperability  and  redundancy  of  communications  systems  for 
 hearing  consumers,  it  is  imperative  that  we  also  consider  the  needs  of  the  hearing  impaired. 


 Prohibiting  a  VRS  provider  from  blocking  access  to  other  VRS  providers  ensures  that,  if  a  consumer  cannot  promptly  reach  help  through  the  VRS  provider 
 associated  with  his/  her  equipment,  that  consumer  is  not  simply  stranded,  but  is  able  to  reach  help  through  another  VRS  provider.  Moreover,  in  the  event  of  a  large-  scale 
 emergency,  if  a  VRS  provider’s  service  is  shut  down  or  overwhelmed  by  an  influx  of  calls,  interoperability  will  allow  consumers  to  have  access  to  all  other  VRS  providers,  as 
 well  as  all  available  interpreters,  no  matter  who  they  work  for. 
 Even  in  the  non-  emergency  context,  interoperability  is  important.  As  stated  in  our  Order,  if  a  consumer  is  limited  to  using  only  one  provider’s  service,  the 
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 consumer  is  dependent  solely  on  that  provider  to  place  a  call.  Thus,  absent  interoperability,  a  VRS  user  is  at  a  disadvantage  compared  to  voice  callers  –  unlike  voice 
 callers,  the  VRS  user  cannot  promptly  reach  a  “dial  tone.” 
 Finally,  I  agree  that  that  requiring  interoperability  will  help  to  level  the  playing  field  and  foster  competition  by  encouraging  new  providers  to  offer  this  service.  It 
 is  my  hope  that  our  action  today,  including  our  Further  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking  addressing  technical  issues  such  as  the  feasibility  of  establishing  a  single  global  database 
 of  proxy  number  for  VRS  uses,  is  an  important  step  toward  providing  not  only  functionally  equivalent  services  to  the  hearing  impaired,  but  equivalent  access  to,  and 
 choice  of,  VRS  providers. 
 I  want  to  thank  the  many  people  who  have  shared  with  us  the  unique  challenges  faced  by  the  hearing  impaired.  I  look  forward  to  working  with  my  colleagues 
 to  see  that  we  are  always  cognizant  of  the  needs  of  the  hearing  impaired  and  those  with  disabilities  as  we  address  critical  issues  such  as  disaster  preparedness  and  response. 
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