Sprint Asks FCC to Undo IP CTS Cuts; Deaf Groups Back ASR Request, VRS Bid; ZVRS Seeks Waiver

1806070021). The commission failed to rely on an updated record and fully assess reasonable IP CTS costs in setting "unreasonably low interim rates," said a petition posted in docket 13-24, one of several filings posted Monday and Friday on telecom relay service issues. Sprint urged the FCC to freeze the rate at $1.95 until it resolves fundamental questions. Advocates for the deaf and hard of hearing largely backed a previous Sprint petition to clarify or reconsider an accompanying IP CTS ruling authorizing automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology (see 1807100066). "The Commission is putting the cart before the horse by allowing ASR-based IP CTS services without developing standards and metrics for the provision of IP CTS to ensure that consumers receive robust service from all providers," said the Hearing Loss Association of America, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc. (TDI) and others. "Grant in significant part" the petition and lay out "the contours of a framework ... as a baseline for evaluating pending applications and others that are submitted," they advised. TDI, the National Association for the Deaf and Cerebral Palsy and Deaf Organization backed video relay service providers' petition (see 1806210011) for a limited waiver to serve new users or those ported from other providers, while verification is pending through a TRS user registration database, said the groups' filing in docket 10-51. ZVRS, parent of CSDVRS and Purple Communications, petitioned for a retroactive waiver of a requirement to file written notifications "of a change in a call center's location, including the opening, closing, or relocation of any center, at least 30 days prior to any such change."