NC Telecommunications Relay Services
Service Description
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1991 (ADA) requires Common Carriers to provide
Telecommunications Relay Service for Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Speech Impaired
individuals. The ADA mandated that this nationwide communications service be available to
all individuals in the U.S.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted rules and regulations that
include minimum standards and requirements for all types of relay services. These rules are
found in 47 C.F.R. 64.601 - 64.605 as well as further decisions that may be issued from
time to time by the FCC. Although every effort has been made to incorporate all existing FCC
mandates, the Vendor is also responsible for abiding by of any new FCC mandates that have
been adopted,
In addition, the North Carolina General Assembly passed the Dual Party Relay Service bill
(G.S. 62-157) in 1989 to provide Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Speech Impaired individuals with
access to the telecommunications network in North Carolina equal to that provided to other
customers. G.S. 62-157 provides that DHHS may contract out the provision of relay service for
four-year periods to one or more service providers, using the provisions of G.S. 143-129.
Relay North Carolina was implemented on June 1, 1991, and Sprint was chosen as the first
relay contractor. Since then, both MCI and Sprint have been selected as contractors for the
four-year periods. As of April, 2007 the total monthly outgoing call volume was 60,590
outbound calls and the total minutes were 185,172 minutes. The total session minutes for
CapTel during April 2007 were 99,609 Attachment D refers to June 2007 traffic data which
includes all TRS and CapTel.
The current telephone surcharge is $0.11 per access line and per commercial mobile radio
service (CMRS or wireless) account per month in the State of North Carolina. This surcharge
amount has been in effect since January 2001. The surcharges are collected and submitted
by the current local service and wireless providers and deposited by the State Treasurer every
month into the TRS Surcharge Fund. Pursuant to G.S. 62-157, the North Carolina Utilities
Commission may decrease or increase up to $0.25 the amount of the monthly surcharge to
meet funding requirements.
Objectives of TRS
To contract with a FCC certified telecommunications provider for the services required
herein.
To establish TRS and CapTel services that is flexible and responsive to service
demands and is able to adapt state-of-the-art technology and new available
technology.
To establish Internet Relay Service and/or Video Relay Service.
To establish procedures for forecasting changes in service demand.
To provide outreach activities to promote all RNC services.
