STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER MICHAEL J. COPPS
Re:  Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with 
Hearing and Speech Disabilities; E911 Requirements for IP-Enabled Service Providers, CG 
Docket No. 03-123 and WC Docket No. 05-196, Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking.
Today the Commission takes another essential step towards making sure that come December 
31, 2008 the deaf and hard of hearing community will be able to obtain 10-digit phone numbers –
something that most of us with a cell phone or home phone too often take for granted.  In doing 
so, users of Internet-based Telecommunications Relay Services such as Video Relay Service and 
IP-Relay will be able to give their friends, family, doctors, and employers a phone number to 
reach them just like voice telephone users.  The Order requires that these phone numbers be 
portable and the consumer devices be interoperable. The Order also requires that emergency calls 
placed by these users be automatically and correctly connected with local emergency services.  I 
am pleased to support this Order and the Commission’s decision to require that all of this be 
completed no later than December 31, 2008.  Deaf and hard of hearing consumers have waited 
too long for this service already and it is certainly consistent with the Americans with Disabilities 
Act’s mandate of “functional equivalency.”  
Getting to this juncture has not been an easy road and there is still much work to do.  For this 
reason, I also support the Commission’s Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking 
comment on certain implementation issues involving emergency calling, Customer Proprietary 
Network Information, and anti-slamming rules. Comment is also sought on other important issues 
such as the appropriate timeline for existing users to sign-up for a number, the assignment of 
multiple phone numbers to a user or a single phone number to multiple services, how costs for 
this new system should be covered, and ways to prevent fraud. These and other issues teed up in 
the Further Notice are all critical questions, many of them novel, and I would urge all 
stakeholders to provide the Commission with the benefit of their insights, knowledge and 
experience.
The Order also emphasizes the critical need for consumer outreach. The availability of phone 
numbers is a very big step in the advancement of functionally equivalent telephone service for the 
deaf and hard hearing community. With that will come many questions, probably some concerns, 
and inevitably I fear some confusion as we move to the system adopted today.  For these reasons, 
it’s incumbent upon the FCC, providers, and consumer advocacy organizations to engage in a 
coordinated campaign to inform the disability community.
As with most systemic and promising changes, it is essential that all stakeholders, particularly 
the disability community, provide the Commission with its ongoing input and ideas.  The FCC 
must do a good job of monitoring the process and be ready to respond to any unintended 
consequences.  In addition, the Commission must remain diligent in its efforts to oversee the 
integrity of these programs.  The move to a numbering system should afford the Commission, 
providers, and businesses additional tools in their efforts to combat fraud, particularly when it 
comes to IP-Relay. 
I want to thank Chairman Martin and all my colleagues for their support for this Order and 
their efforts in making it come to fruition.  I also appreciate the hard work and guidance provided 
by the deaf and hard of hearing community on these important issues.  Finally, I want to pay 
tribute to Cathy Seidel and Nicole McGinnis of the Consumer and Government Affairs Bureau, 
Tom Chandler of the Disabilities Rights Office, Dana Shaffer and Nick Alexander of the Wireline 
Competition Bureau, and their teams who in less than three months organized a stakeholder 
workshop, analyzed a refreshed record, and labored long hours on this technical, complicated and 
important Order.  While we’re not home yet, their ongoing efforts are worthy of recognition.