CCOSD

FCC Hosts Workshop on VRS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 3, 2009

FCC ANNOUNCES WORKSHOP ON VRS REFORM TO BE HELD ON DECEMBER 17, 2009

Washington, DC – The Federal Communications Commission today announces it will hold a workshop on December 17, 2009, as part of its comprehensive review of the Video Relay Service (VRS) program, to ensure that the program’s underlying structure fosters the efficient, effective, and lawful provision of VRS. This workshop is open to the public and is intended to gather data and information on these key areas:

1) The most efficient way to deliver VRS, particularly whether the service should remain a competitive service or be provided via competitive bidding;
2) A fair, efficient, and transparent compensation methodology; and,
3) Mechanisms for combating waste, fraud and abuse, addressing service rules, and addressing technical matters such as interoperability, ten-digit numbering, and emergency call handling.

The Commission will provide additional details about the workshop as it approaches.

The workshop will be held in the Commission Meeting Room at the FCC’s Washington, DC, headquarters, 445 12th St., SW, on Thursday, December 17, 2009, from 2:00 – 5:00 pm. The event will be open to the general public. In order to ensure that everyone has access to the content, a live webcast of the workshop will be available at the FCC’s website at http://www.fcc.gov/realaudio/, and archived for viewing at a later time (at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro/trs.html), or people may listen in to the workshop by dialing 1-866-566-7390 and entering Code: 4732812. An agenda and list of participants will be released prior to the workshop.

Open captioning and sign language interpreters will be provided for this event. Other reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities are available upon request. Please include a description of the accommodation you will need and as much detail as possible. Also, please include your contact information. Make your request as early as possible. Send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-418-0432 (TTY).

NEWS MEDIA CONTACT: Rosemary Kimball 202-418-0511, E-mail: rosemary.kimball@fcc.gov