“This page is a digitally archived AccessInfo Announcement”
On August 26, 2013, the Commission adopted the Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service (IP CTS) Reform Order, adopting, among other things, new registration and certification requirements for IP CTS users. For more information about the IP CTS Reform Order, please see the previous AccessInfo announcement that we posted about the Order: http://transition.fcc.gov/cgb/dro/AccessInfo/2013-09 -10.pdf
Effective Date of IP CTS user registration and certification rules: These new rules, which became effective on August 28, 2014, require each new IP CTS user to register and provide a self- certification that the user:
- has a hearing loss that necessitates use of captioned telephone service; understands that captions on captioned telephone service are provided by a live
communications assistant who listens to the other party on the line and provides the text on the captioned phone;
- understands that the cost of captioning each Internet protocol (IP) captioned telephone call is funded through a federal program; and
- will not permit, to the best of the consumer’s ability, persons who have not been registered to use IP CTS to make captioned telephone calls on the consumer’s registered IP captioned telephone service or device.
The rules also require existing IP CTS users who have not previously registered in accordance with the Commission’s rules to register and provide a self-certification. In addition, if an existing user obtained IP CTS equipment for less than $75 (other than through a governmental program) prior to March 7, 2013, IP CTS providers must obtain from the user either a payment of $75 or a certification from an independent, third party professional that:
- the user has a hearing loss that necessitates use of captioned telephone service, and
- the third party professional understands that the captions on captioned telephone service are provided by a live communications assistant funded through a federal program.
Link to the Public Notice announcing the effective date of the IP CTS user registration and certification rules:
Word: https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-14 -1265A1.docx PDF: https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-14 -1265A1.pdf Text: https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-14 -1265A1.txt
For further information, please contact Eliot Greenwald, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, at (202) 418-2235 (voice) or e-mail at Eliot.Greenwald@fcc.gov.