Federal Communications Commission	"FCC  XX-XXX"


STATEMENT OF
ACTING CHAIRWOMAN JESSICA ROSENWORCEL

Re: 	In the Matter of Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities, CG Docket No. 03-123; Petition for Rulemaking of Sprint Corporation, RM-11820.

In 2007, technology was having a moment.  The iPhone was introduced.  Big advancements took place in cloud storage and cognitive computing.  And back in 2007, the Federal Communications Commission developed a methodology to support Internet Protocol Relay Services—or IP Relay—a technology to assist those with hearing and speech disabilities use text to communicate through the traditional phone system.  
In the intervening years, there have been more iterations of the smartphone than we can count and more expansion of cloud computing and machine learning than we can quantify, but our framework for IP Relay compensation has stayed the same.
It’s time for an update.  Because with the passage of time, we know technology changes and the systems we use at this agency to support services like IP Relay would benefit from a fresh look.  That’s just what we do here.  We ask questions about the current costs an IP Relay provider incurs when it provides service.  We ask about the continuing viability of a multi-year compensation scheme.  And we ask what changes may be necessary to ensure IP Relay service continues to provide a functionally equivalent service for those with disabilities—because this is required under the law.   
Thank you to the staff of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau for their work on this rulemaking, including Bob Aldrich, Diane Burstein, Drake Darrah, Eliot Greenwald, Halie Peacher, Michael Scott, Bill Wallace, and Patrick Webre; Belford Lawson from the Office of Communications Business Opportunities; Susan Lee, Virginia Metallo, Eric Ralph, and Emily Talaga from the Office of Economics and Analytics; and Terry Cavanaugh, Richard Mallen, and Bill Richardson from the Office of General Counsel.



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