FCC Requires Hands on to Eliminate Brown Bag Rewards Program

FCC Requires Hands on to Eliminate Brown Bag Rewards Program

ROCKLIN, Calif., Feb. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- A Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission recently released a ruling requiring Hands On Video Relay Services, Inc. ("Hands On") to eliminate its Brown Bag Rewards Program.

Hands On is a provider of Video Relay Service ("VRS"), headquartered in Rocklin, CA. VRS is a form of telecommunications relay service ("TRS"), which allows deaf, hard of hearing and speech disabled persons to communicate with hearing persons through the use of a sign language interpreter who is connected with the deaf person through a video link over the Internet. The deaf person communicates with the interpreter via a video Internet link using a web-enabled video camera or a video phone connected to a television set. The interpreter then relays the conversation back and forth with the hearing person over a standard telephone connection. VRS allows a deaf, hard of hearing or speech disabled person to communicate in his or her natural visual language, rather than conducting a telephone call by typing on a TTY or other text device.

Since the FCC approved VRS as a form of TRS in 2000 it has steadily grown in popularity among the deaf, hard of hearing and speech disabled community. VRS requires that the deaf, hard of hearing or speech disabled person have a broadband Internet connection such as a DSL or cable modem. Other forms of TRS, also known as text-based relay, merely require a standard telephone line.

"The Brown Bag Program was adopted to assist Hands On's VRS users in paying the high cost of their DSL or cable modem bills," said Hands On President Ronald Obray. Mr. Obray explained that to communicate in their natural visual language, VRS users pay significantly more for connectivity to the telephone network than hearing persons. "Deaf people have to pay for a Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) line and a DSL line," said Mr. Obray. "That's not functionally equivalent compared to what is provided to hearing persons, who only need a standard telephone line to communicate in their natural auditory language."

Mr. Obray when on to ask, "Whose responsibility is it to absorb the increased financial burden that a deaf and hard of hearing individual incurs to communicate in their natural visual language?" He believes the Interstate Telecommunications Fund should always have reimbursed either the provider or the consumer for the added monthly cost of the DSL or cable modem. In fact, Section 225(d) of the Federal Communications Act specifically provides that FCC regulations " ... require that users of telecommunications relay services pay rates no greater than the rates paid for functionally equivalent voice communication services with respect to such factors as the duration of the call, the time of day, and the distance from point of origin to point of termination." "Hands On has assumed that responsibility by subsidizing the difference in cost to assure functionally equivalent access to the public telephone system," Mr. Obray explained.

Mr. Obray stated that Hands On initially raised the issue with the FCC itself because it wanted to be certain that its VRS service and programs fully complied with the FCC's requirements. "We were not aware of any provision of the law or the FCC's rules that states anything relating to the Brown Bag Program, or similar rewards programs," said Obray. The FCC's ruling does not cite any specific prohibition in its rules or the Communications Act.

The FCC disagreed. Its Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau stated that any program that involves the use of any type of financial incentives to encourage or reward a consumer for placing a TRS call is inconsistent with Section 225 of the Communications Act and the FCC's regulations governing the TRS service.

The Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau stated that rewards programs of the type Hands On offers, entices "the consumer to make calls they might not ordinarily make," and thus held that the programs are inconsistent with the "intent and nature" of the Communications Act provisions governing the service and the FCC's implementing rules. The Bureau suggested that such programs would increase the cost of providing VRS which is paid for by the Interstate Telecommunications Relay Fund. The Bureau accordingly is requiring the cessation of the Brown Bag Rewards Program by March 1, 2005.

Mr. Obray argues that the bigger picture is about providing a level playing field for all consumers. Hearing individuals are not required to pay for a DSL or cable modem line in order to make a phone call. The Brown Bag Program merely gives the deaf, hard of hearing and speech disabled consumers an opportunity to be reimbursed for the cost of the DSL or cable modem line.

However, Mr. Obray stated that in accordance with the ruling, Hands On will discontinue the award of points under the Brown Bag Program on February 28, 2005. He stated that Hands On will continue to honor points awarded prior to March 1, 2005, under the program, until all point balances have been honored unless the FCC advises Hands On not to do so.

Mr. Obray stated that Hands On is disappointed that the FCC did not even feel the matter important enough to ask for public comment so as to allow the deaf and hard of hearing community a say in the decision. In a variety of other matters where a ruling is requested concerning relay service, the FCC regularly gives the consuming public an opportunity for comment he explained. "We do not understand why it chose to act here without even getting input from the deaf, hard of hearing and speech disabled public that VRS is designed to serve," he said. "Nevertheless, Hands On will continue its quest to remove barriers to communication; much like the discriminatory practice that requires deaf and hard of hearing persons to pay increased costs merely to communicate in their natural visual language," said Mr. Obray.


Source: Hands On Video Relay Services, Inc.

CONTACT: media, Ronald E. Obray of Hands On Video Relay Services, Inc.,
+1-800-900-9478

Web site: http://www.hovrs.com/


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