FCC Launches Reform of Video Relay Service

In two unanimous votes the Federal Communications Commission moved to protect and ensure the sustainability of Video Relay Service, a vital service for persons with hearing or speech disabilities.

The votes will: 1) begin a fresh look at the VRS program, and 2) set out how VRS companies will be compensated during the next year while the review is underway. The action is meant to protect a program that has developed through two decades of work initiated by the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).

The FCC released a Notice of Inquiry asking fundamental questions about the ways that the market for VRS should be structured and how companies that provide VRS should be compensated.

The FCC also set interim levels for payments to VRS companies for the year July 2010 through June 2011. The FCC estimates that these new compensation levels, together with steps that have been taken to reduce fraud, will save the fund about $275 million over last year's estimated costs. The FCC has worked with the Department of Justice to identify companies that may have acted fraudulently, and the number of questionable charges has already dropped as a result. The savings from reduced fraud and new payment levels will benefit American ratepayers, who support the fund through charges on their telephone bills.