The Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) has adopted a Report and Order lowering telecommunications relay services (TRS) Fund compensation rates from $1.58 per minute to $1.42 per minute for the remainder of the 2020-2021 funding year, December 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021. The TRS Fund compensation rate will be lowered even further to $1.30 per minute for the funding year 2021-2022. This reduction in compensation rates for Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service (IP CTS) will save the TRS Fund approximately $200 million through June 30, 2020.
A Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) was also approved which proposed rules on establishing measurable standards for quality telephone captioning, such as for delay and accuracy. The FNPRM also seeks comment on the appropriate entity to conduct such assessments.
