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IT Accessibility Review
Volume 1, Number 6
Telecommunications
FCC Commissioner Copps Discusses Disability Issues Technology and Disability Policy Highlights (5.03), Mar. 2005
To read this article:
http://www.wirelessrerc.gatech.edu/news/highlights_05/highlights_mar05.html
Chairman Kevin J. Martin Announces His Intention to Appoint the FCC Chief of Staff, Announces a Staff Change, and Announces His Intention to Appoint Select Bureau Chiefs
Today, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin announced his intention to appoint Daniel Gonzalez as the Commission´s Chief of Staff and that Michelle Carey will join his personal staff as Legal Advisor for Wireline Issues. Chairman Martin also announced his intention to appoint Monica Desai as Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Chief, Kris Monteith as Enforcement Bureau Chief, and Tom Navin as Wireline Competition Bureau Chief.
Of these announcements, Chairman Martin said, "I want to thank Dan, Michelle, Monica, Kris, and Tom for agreeing to serve the Commission in these capacities. I am grateful for their commitment to public service and look forward to working with them. I am particularly excited that Michelle has agreed to join my personal staff as my Legal Advisor for Wireline issues. Michelle has served this agency admirably in the past, and I want to thank her for her efforts and assistance going forward. She will be a great asset to my team."
Daniel Gonzalez has served as Chairman Martin´s Senior Legal Advisor and Wireline Advisor since February 2002. Mr. Gonzalez has a notable career of service at the Commission, having served previously as an attorney in the Common Carrier Bureau´s Policy and Program Planning Division and the Accounting and Audits Division and as a Legal Advisor to the Common Carrier Bureau Chief and Commissioner Rachelle B. Chong. Prior to joining Chairman Martin´s staff in 2002, Mr. Gonzalez served as Vice President of External and Regulatory Affairs for XO Communications. Mr. Gonzalez received his B.A. from the State University of New York and his J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law.
Since September 2004, Michelle Carey served as Deputy Chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau. Prior to that, she was Chief of the Competition Policy Division for nearly five years, where she managed rulemaking proceedings concerning a variety of issues, including local competition, broadband, and IP-enabled services. She also supervised numerous adjudicatory proceedings, including applications by the regional Bell companies to provide long-distance service and wireline telecommunications mergers. Prior to becoming Chief, Ms. Carey was Deputy Chief and, before that, a staff attorney in both the Policy and Enforcement divisions of the former Common Carrier Bureau. Before joining the Commission, Ms. Carey clerked for the Honorable Hart T. Mankin of the U.S. Court of Veterans Appeals. Ms. Carey received her B.A., magna cum laude, from Georgetown University and her J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center.
Monica Desai has worked at the Commission since 1999 in a variety of capacities. She previously served as an interim legal advisor to then-Commissioner Martin on spectrum and international issues and various common carrier and media issues. She has also worked as an attorney-advisor in the Pricing Policy Division of the Wireline Competition Bureau, as well as the Commercial Wireless Division and the Public Safety and Private Wireless Division of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. Before joining the FCC, Ms. Desai previously served as an associate at the law firm of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, a law clerk to the Honorable Deborah K. Chasanow (United States District Court, District of Maryland), and as an adjunct professor at the George Mason University School of Law. Ms. Desai received her B.B.A., magna cum laude, in Finance from George Washington University, where she was a National Merit Scholar, and she received her J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center.
Kris Monteith most recently served as Deputy Bureau Chief for Outreach and Intergovernmental Affairs in the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. In that capacity, Ms. Monteith oversaw the Commission´s interaction with local, state, and tribal governments and other federal agencies, and she was responsible for consumer outreach to inform and educate the public about the Commission´s rules, policies, programs, and plans. Ms. Monteith previously served as Chief of the Policy Division of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Deputy Chief of the former Common Carrier Bureau´s Competitive Pricing Division, the Designated Federal Official to the North American Numbering Council, and as a Senior Attorney in the then-Common Carrier Bureau´s Network Services Division. Before joining the Commission in 1997, Ms. Monteith was an attorney for McDermott, Will & Emery and Keller and Heckman. She received her B.A. from the University of Colorado and her J.D. from the George Washington University.
Tom Navin most recently served as the Chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau´s Competition Policy Division, where he was responsible for managing implementation of many key aspects of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, including the Commission´s UNE Triennial Review pursuant to section 251 and issues affecting Broadband policy such as VOIP and wireline broadband Internet access. Previously, Mr. Navin served as Deputy Chief of his current division and Deputy Chief of the Wireless Bureau´s Policy Division. Before joining the FCC, he was an associate at McDermott, Will & Emery. Mr. Navin received a B.S. from Wake Forest University, and a J.D. from the University of Virginia, where he was an Executive Editor of the Virginia Journal of International Law.
Source:
Federal Communications Commission
April 29, 2005
News Media Information 202 / 418-0500
Internet: http://www.fcc.gov
TTY: 1-888-835-5322
NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
Catherine Bohigian at (202) 418-2100
FCC Makes Decision on VoIP and 911
At today´s FCC Open Meeting the Commission adopted a First Report and Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking concerning E911 requirements for IP-enabled services. The Order requires that all providers of interconnected VoIP telephone service must deliver 911 as a standard, not enhanced service, within 120 days of publication of the Order in the Federal Register. In the interim, providers will be required to notify current and new customers that they currently do not offer that capability. ILECs are required to provide competing carriers access to their networks to provide 911 service.
Source:
Washington Watch News
Telecom Bills May Avoid Senate Debate
by Claudia Grisales
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Contributed By: Ed Bossen, Texas Relay Service
Representative attaches controversial proposals to PUC measure already approved by senators.
A key state representative pulled off a maneuver Monday night that could send two controversial telecommunications bills directly to a conference committee, bypassing Senate debate and possible changes.
The bills would deregulate local phone rates and change the rules of the game for providing television service. Hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake for major phone companies, such as SBC Communications Inc., and the cable industry.
SBC and other phone companies support the bills; the cable industry opposes them.
State Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, chairman of the House Committee on Regulated Industries, attached House Bills 789 and 3179 to a bill renewing the Public Utility Commission of Texas, and the committee passed the combined bills.
Because the Senate already has passed the PUC bill, King´s other bills do not have to be considered by the Senate Business and Commerce Committee.
"By tacking these controversial bills to a must-pass bill, this could undermine the Senate´s ability to craft an alternative with public input," said Tim Morstad, policy analyst for the Southwest office of Consumers Union.
Trey Trainor, King´s chief of staff, said the committee had been working on the issues for the past 18 months and that the move was designed to keep important legislation alive.
"These issues can´t wait," he said, noting that technology was quickly transforming the telecom industry.
Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, Chairman of the Business and Commerce Committee, said he had planned changes to the bills in his committee, to make them more "consumer-friendly."
"This is such a big issue that both houses need to address," Fraser said. "We haven´t had a chance to look at this issue, and it´s an issue that involves a lot of money for a lot of companies and cities.
"I would hope that we would have the ability to address these issues, because they are very important issues, in a full hearing," Fraser added.
The primary bill, HB 789, would allow SBC and other dominant phone companies to set their own local rates by fall, ending the PUC´s rate-setting power for most customers. Phone companies could wait until 2008 to reduce the fees they charge competitors to access their networks. They also could keep hundreds of millions of dollars in state subsidies for providing service in rural and remote areas. Cable companies, starting their own Internet-based phone services, say that gives SBC unfair advantages.
The other bill, HB 3179, would allow SBC and Verizon Communications Inc. to get a single statewide franchise for their planned Internet-based television service, avoiding local agreements. Cable companies could cancel local franchise agreements, but would have to pay a fee. Texas cities oppose the bill, which would cost them money and remove their authority over cable service standards.
The House passed HB 789 in early April, but Fraser´s committee has not set a hearing, with only three weeks before the session ends. The House has not yet voted on the other bill.
However, if the House passes the expanded PUC bill, the measures would go directly to a conference committee, where negotiators from both chambers would hash out a compromise. Any compromise bill would go back to both chambers for a final vote.
State Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Lewisville, pledged to fight King´s effort.
"We are at that point of the session when members are trying to amend their legislation onto other bills that are moving more quickly through the process," said Nelson, author of the PUC bill. "I understand that inclination. However, it is my preference that sunset legislation remain clean of major policy shifts."
Transversal Provides Online Customer Service Solution to Enable Websites to Access £80 Billion Disabled Market
Organizations are risking missing out on a major market by not being able to provide disabled and visually impaired customers with online answers to shopping and customer service questions. This is the view of Transversal, providers of Disability Discrimination Act-compliant eCustomer Service software, who believe that organizations need to do more than simply comply with the legal accessibility requirements if they are to genuinely offer disabled customers a service.
To read this article:
http://disability-marketing.com/newsletter/2005-05-customer-service.php4
W3C Plans to Boost Web Accessibility for Mobiles
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) yesterday launched the Mobile Web Initiative (MWI), which aims to make web access from a mobile device as easy as web access from a desktop device.
To read this article:
http://www.out-law.com/php/page.php?page_id=wcplanstoboostw1115902603&area=news
Popularity of Videophones, Video Relay Service for Deaf Prompts Sorenson Communications to Build Six Additional Interpreting Centers
National Network of ASL Interpreters Who Use Videophones to Interpret for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Individuals Expands with New Interpreting Centers in Boston, Charlotte, Dallas, Milwaukee, New York, and Philadelphia
BOSTON; CHARLOTTE, NC; DALLAS; MILWAUKEE, WI; NEW YORK; PHILADELPHIA; SALT LAKE CITY (May 25, 2005) - Sorenson CommunicationsT today announced the opening of new Sorenson Video Relay Service® (VRS) Interpreting Centers in six cities: Boston, Charlotte, Dallas, Milwaukee, New York, and Philadelphia. Sorenson Communications is adding these interpreting centers to help meet the growing demand for its popular service that connects deaf and hard-of-hearing people to the hearing world through American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters using videophones.
"For deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals, placing a video relay service call has never been simpler," said James Lee Sorenson, CEO of Sorenson Communications. "By using a Sorenson VP-100T videophone appliance, a television, and high-speed Internet connection, deaf and hard-of-hearing people can now easily call hearing friends, family, and business associates. Because we are experiencing a rapid rise in the number of users, we are increasing the number video relay service centers and interpreters to meet the demand."
With Sorenson VRS, a network of qualified ASL interpreters receive videophone calls from deaf or hard-of-hearing people and interpret conversations for them with hearing people. Dialog flows spontaneously back and forth with the deaf or hard-of-hearing person signing ASL to the interpreter who speaks to the hearing individual over an ordinary telephone line.
"We chose these six major urban areas for interpreting centers because they each have large populations of certified ASL interpreters available and excellent local interpreter training programs," said Chris Wakeland, vice president of interpreting at Sorenson Communications. "Adding these new centers will bring employment opportunities to the local economies and help us avoid wait-time for our users."
Source:
Sorenson News
About Sorenson Communications
Sorenson Communications (www.sorenson.com) is a pioneer of industry-leading communication services for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. The company´s offerings include Sorenson Video Relay Service (VRS), the line of high-quality videophones (VP), and Sorenson IP Relay ServiceT (siprelay).Sorenson VRS (www.sorensonvrs.com) enables deaf and hard-of-hearing callers to conduct video relay conversations with hearing friends, business colleagues, and family members through a qualified American Sign Language interpreter. The company´s Sorenson VP-100 is the first consumer-based broadband videophone appliance specifically designed for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals. Sorenson IP Relay Service (www.siprelay.com) allows users to place text-based relay calls from a PC or mobile device to any standard telephone user.
