ARCHIVED - Telecom Commission Letter - 8665-C90-200707060

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Letter

Ottawa, 19 December 2007

File Number : 8665-C90-200707060

BY E-MAIL

Mr. James Roots
Executive Director
Canadian Association of the Deaf
251 Bank Street, suite 203
Ottawa, Ontario
K2P 1X3
jroots@cad.ca

Dear Mr. Roots:

Re:   Application by the Canadian Association of the Deaf associated with the teletypewriter program set out in Access to pay telephone service, Telecom Decision CRTC 2004-47

This letter constitutes the Commission's determination on the Canadian Association of the Deaf's (CAD) application dated 22 February 2007.

CAD requested that the Commission instruct all incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) subject to Telecom Decision 2004-47 [1] to file an application for Commission approval to implement new and/or different technology to meet the pay telephone teletypewriter program requirements set out in that Decision (TTY program requirements).  

CAD submitted that certain ILECs, including MTS Allstream Inc. (MTS Allstream) and TELUS Communications Company (TCC), had proceeded to install keypad TTYs [2] on pay telephones in their respective serving areas without Commission approval. CAD requested that the Commission require these ILECs to cease and desist from installing keypad TTYs on certain pay telephones as part of their compliance with the TTY program requirements pending prior Commission approval.

The Commission received comments on CAD's application from MTS Allstream, Saskatchewan Telecommunications, and TCC (collectively, the Companies). The record of the proceeding closed with reply comments from CAD dated 21 June 2007.

The Commission considers that CAD's application raises the issue of whether the ILECs are required to obtain Commission approval prior to equipping certain pay telephones with keypad TTYs in order to comply with the TTY program requirements.

Positions of parties

CAD submitted that the ILECs subject to Telecom Decision 2004-47 should file an application with the Commission prior to installing keypad TTYs on certain pay telephones as a means of complying with the TTY program requirement.

CAD submitted that deaf and hard of hearing customers require progressive technology and that the keypad TTY technology did not achieve this requirement. CAD considered that the keypad TTY technology was outmoded and was not superior to existing TTY technology. CAD further considered that the keypad TTY did not provide equivalent access to what hearing consumers experienced when they made a telephone call.

CAD further submitted that any such application by the ILECs should include meaningful consultations and research with the deaf community in order to come up with joint proposals to improve communication access on a global basis.

The Companies indicated that the keypad TTY technology provided TTY functionality in compliance with the TTY program requirements. The Companies submitted that the keypad TTY unit was a viable solution that had been deployed in the past to meet deaf and hard of hearing customers' access requirements, and that their customers endorsed this solution.

The Companies argued that, in Telecom Decision 2004-47, the Commission only required the filing of a new application in the case of a new technology superior to TTY technology. The Companies submitted that CAD's application should be denied because the keypad TTY technology did not meet this definition.

The Companies indicated that they were committed to working with CAD and its regional deaf and hard of hearing associations to research possible solutions to improve accessibility to their telecommunications products.

Commission's analysis and determination

In Telecom Decision 2004-47, the Commission directed the ILECs subject to that Decision to implement a TTY program to equip certain pay telephones with TTY units over a period of seven years. A t paragraph 149, the Commission stated that given the timeframe over which the directions in that Decision were to be implemented, newer technologies might become commercially available that were superior to TTY technology. In such circumstances, the Commission encouraged the ILECs to apply for a modification of Telecom Decision 2004-47 such that the more advanced technology could be installed.

The Commission notes that the provisions set out in Telecom Decision 2004-47 relate to new or more advanced technology superior to the existing TTY technology. The Commission also notes that there was consensus amongst all parties that the keypad TTY was not a newer technology superior to the existing TTY technology.

In light of the above, the Commission concludes that obtaining Commission approval prior to installing keypad TTYs on certain pay telephones to fulfill the TTY program requirements is not required. Accordingly, the Commission denies CAD's application.

With respect to CAD's request to develop solutions for accessibility issues in order to improve communication access, the Commission notes that CAD will be able to address its concerns in the context of the proceeding to address unresolved accessibility issues for persons with disabilities identified in the second year of the Commission's 3-Year Work Plan 2007-2010 , 24 April 2007.

Sincerely,

'Original signed by R. A. Morin'

Robert A. Morin
Secretary General

cc:   Mr. Willie Grieve, TCC, regulatory.affairs@telus.com
       Ms. Teresa Griffin-Muir, MTS,   iworkstation@mtsallstream.com
       Mr. W.N. (Bill) Beckman, SaskTel, document.control@sasktel.sk.ca
       David Palmer, Bell Canada, bell.regulatory@bell.ca
       Stella Wallace-Chagnon, Bell Aliant, Regulatory@bell.aliant.ca
       Mr. Allen Mercier, Telebec, reglementa@telebec.com

Email Addresses:
jroots@cad.ca ; regulatory.affairs@telus.comiworkstation@mtsallstream.com ;   document.control@sasktel.sk.cabell.regulatory@bell.ca ; Regulatory@bell.aliant.ca ; reglementa@telebec.com

[1] Access to pay telephone service , Telecom Decision CRTC 2004-47, 15 July 2004

[2] Keypad TTY is a technology that uses an existing pay telephone keypad instead of a separate keyboard.

Date Modified: 2007-12-19
Date modified: