WASHINGTON-The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is adamant the wireless industry comply with rules requiring digital phones be compatible with text telephones (TTYs) used by the deaf community, especially when TTYs are used in conjunction with digital phones to make 911 calls. Nevertheless, the wireless industry hopes the FCC again will extend compliance with these rules.
Current digital phones cause an unacceptable character error rate when used with tone-based TTY phones. Analog cellular phones don’t have this problem.
The conflict is whether a short-term voice solution with a better error rate is technologically possible or whether the deaf community will have to purchase wireless data devices to remain mobile. The industry believes data is the real solution for wireless TTY.
While the deaf community may agree a data solution is preferable, an embedded base of TTYs rely on voice tones. Those in the deaf community who use these voice-tone devices want to be able to send and receive phone calls through a digital wireless phone. This does not appear to be possible since the character error rates for digital technologies range from 3 percent to 16 percent. The deaf community says an error rate of less than 1 percent is necessary, especially when making 911 calls.
The FCC originally extended the compliance deadline last year when the industry said it needed more time to develop a solution. The new compliance deadline was Sept. 30.
This date was extended by the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau to Nov. 15, on the condition the industry, through its sponsored Wireless TTY Forum, submit information by Oct. 30 detailing a work plan to reach compatibility with date milestones and a standardized test plan to test voice devices.
“We have gathered all of that material on an accelerated schedule. We have met our obligation. I would hope the [WTB would again extend the deadline another 45 days],” said Todd Lantor, government relations manager for the Personal Communications Industry Association and co-chair of the Wireless TTY Forum.
The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association also sponsors the forum.
The FCC is reluctant to extend again the compliance date because there has not been enough progress made toward finding a solution that will work with the embedded base.
Ari Fitzgerald, wireless legal adviser to FCC Chairman William Kennard, said the chairman is committed to getting this done. “If we don’t [find a solution], there are going to be a number of people who are left out of the digital revolution. We can’t tolerate that.”
Kennard sent a letter last month to wireless carriers urging them to “take whatever actions are necessary.” Any further extension of the compliance deadline would require evidence a solution was being developed, Kennard added. CTIA President Tom Wheeler responded to Kennard’s letter by claiming that developing that evidence was taking away from developing a data-based solution.
The Wireless TTY forum met again last week to review the Oct. 30 documents and see a demonstration of a new software/hardware solution that works with the Nokia 9000 Communicator handheld device. This device, larger than a pocket phone but smaller than most palm-size data devices, can have software installed that will convert TTY signals to data format to be read on its screen. The V.18 modem solution has been deployed in Sweden and the demonstration required going through a Swedish server, said Andrea Williams of CTIA.
