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| Draft Determinations: Text Relay Service | |
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20 August 2001 Draft Determinations:
S.1 This document contains two draft determinations: under Condition 25.1 of the fixed voice telephony and international facilities operator licences, the cable and local delivery operator licences, the mobile licences, the BT licence and the Kingston licence; and under Condition 10.1 of the payphone operator licences. S2. In both cases the effect of the determination will be to recognise the text relay service operated by Typetalk as a text relay service as is required under Conditions 25.1 and 10.1 respectively. S3. A text relay service provides facilities for the receipt of text messages from textphones (used by deaf people and those who are hard of hearing) and voice messages from telephones and translates text to voice and vice versa, enabling users of textphones and telephones to communicate with one another. S4. Typetalk is the only text relay service operating in the United Kingdom. It is funded by BT under one of its licence obligations and managed by the RNID. The Director of Communications is satisfied that the service provided by Typetalk adequately meets the needs of textphone users.
Draft Determination under Condition 25.1 of the Fixed Voice Telephony and International Facilities Operator Licences, the Cable and Local Delivery Operator Licences, the Mobile Licences, the BT Licence and the Kingston Licence WHEREAS: (A) the Secretary of State have granted under section 7 of the Telecommunications Act 1984 (the "Act") the following licences (collectively referred to as the "Relevant Licences" in this draft Determination):
(B) the Telecommunications (Services for Disabled Persons) Regulations 2000, S.I. 2000 No. 2410, modified the Relevant Licences by inserting a new Condition 25 concerning services for disabled persons; (C) Condition 25.7 of the Relevant Licences provides that each licensee shall ensure that such of its customers who need to use ‘Textphones’ because of their disabilities are able to access a ‘Relay Service’; (D) Condition 25.1 of the Relevant Licences defines a ‘Textphone’ as an integrated terminal incorporating an alphanumeric keyboard and a means of displaying text, intended for connection to the public switched telephone network for the sole or primary purpose of supporting live telephone conversations between two or more users; (E) Condition 25.1 of the Relevant Licences defines a ‘Relay Service’ as a service which: (i) provides facilities for the receipt and translation of voice messages into text and the conveyance of that text to the Textphone of customers of any operator, and vice versa; and (ii) has been recognised as a text relay service by means of a determination made by the Director General of Telecommunications (the "Director"); (F) Condition 25.2 of the Relevant Licences provides that each licensee shall comply with the obligation under, inter alia, Condition 25.7 by 2nd October 2001 or within one year of the licence in question being granted, whichever is the later; (G) BT is obliged to provide funds for the operation of a Relay Service under Condition 68 of the BT Licence; (H) the Relay Service for the operation of which BT provides funds under Condition 68 of the BT Licence is the national telephone relay service operating under the name "Typetalk"; and NOW, THEREFORE, THE DIRECTOR, PURSUANT TO CONDITION 25.1 OF THE RELEVANT LICENCES, HEREBY DETERMINES THAT: 1 Typetalk is recognised as a text relay service for the purposes of Condition 25.1 of the Relevant Licences. 2 Words and phrases in this Determination shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the Relevant Licences or the Act, as appropriate. 3 This Determination shall take effect on [1 October 2001]. DAVID ALBERT EDMONDS DIRECTOR GENERAL OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS [ DATE] 2001
Draft Determination under Condition 10.1 of the Payphone Operator Licences grnated to Infolines Public Network Limited and NWP Communications Limited WHEREAS: (A) the Secretary of State granted under section 7 of the Telecommunications Act 1984 (the "Act") payphone operator licences to Infolines Public Network Limited and NWP Communications Limited, both licences dated 31st August 2000 (collectively referred to as the "Payphone Operator Licences" in this draft Determination); (B) the Telecommunications (Services for Disabled Persons) Regulations 2000, S.I. 2000 No. 2410, modified the Payphone Operator Licences by inserting a new Condition 10 concerning services for disabled persons; (C) Condition 10.7 of the Payphone Operator Licences provides that each licensee shall ensure that all ‘Textphones’ located in its ‘Public Call Boxes’ provide access to a ‘Relay Service’; (D) Condition 10.1 of the Payphone Operator Licences defines a ‘Textphone’ as an integrated terminal incorporating an alphanumeric keyboard and a means of displaying text, intended for connection to the public switched telephone network for the sole or primary purpose of supporting live telephone conversations between two or more users; (E) Condition 10.1 of the Payphone Operator Licences defines a ‘Relay Service’ as a service which: (i) provides facilities for the receipt and translation of voice messages into text and the conveyance of that text to the Textphone of customers of any operator, and vice versa; and (ii) has been recognised as a text relay service by means of a determination made by the Director General of Telecommunications (the "Director"); (F) Condition 10.2 of the Payphone Operator Licences provides that each licensee shall comply with the obligation under, inter alia, Condition 10.7 by 2nd October 2001; (G) the Secretary of State granted under section 7 of the Act a licence to British Telecommunications on 22nd June 1984 in relation to which British Telecommunications plc ("BT") became the licensee, by virtue of section 109 of, and paragraph 20 of Schedule 5 to, the Act, as the nominated successor company on the transfer date of 6th August 1984, as modified by the Telecommunications (Licence Modification) (British Telecommunications plc) Regulations 1999, S.I. 1999 No. 2453 (the "BT Licence"); (H) BT is obliged to provide funds for the operation of a Relay Service under Condition 68 of the BT Licence; (I)
the Relay Service for the operation of which BT provides funds under
Condition 68 of the BT Licence is the national telephone relay service
operating under the name "Typetalk"; and
NOW, THEREFORE, THE DIRECTOR, PURSUANT TO CONDITION 10.1 OF THE PAYPHONE OPERATOR LICENCES, HEREBY DETERMINES THAT:
DAVID ALBERT EDMONDS DIRECTOR GENERAL OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS [ DATE] 2001
E1. The Telecommunications (Services for Disabled Persons) Regulations 2000 (the "Disability Regulations"), S.I. 1999 No. 2410, which came into force on 2 October 2000, modified the licences issued to fixed voice telephony and international facilities operators (including the licences granted to British Telecommunications plc and Kingston Communications (Hull) PLC), cable and local delivery operators and mobile operators by substituting a new Condition 25 (now entitled ‘Services for Disabled Persons’). The Disability Regulations also modified the licences issued to payphone operators by substituting a new Condition 10 (also entitled ‘Services for Disabled Persons’). E2. Under the new Condition 25, fixed line and international facilities (as well as cable and local delivery) operators are obliged to ensure that those of its customers who need to use textphones because of their disabilities are able to access a text relay service. E3. Under the new Condition 10, public call box operators are obliged to ensure that textphones located in public call boxes provide access to a text relay service. E4. Textphones are used by hearing-impaired customers to access the public switched telephone network. As textphones are equipped with a keyboard and a screen, they enable users to send and receive messages in the form of text. E5. A text relay service provides facilities for the receipt and conveyance of either voice or text messages and for the translation by human agents of messages from text to voice or vice versa. In this way, the service enables telephone conversations where one party uses text and the other voice. E6. Under both of the above-mentioned Conditions, there is a requirement for the text relay service to which access is provided to have been recognised as a text relay service by means of a determination made by the Director General of Oftel. The requirement for Oftel recognition is intended to ensure that the text relay service to which operators, in discharging their licence obligations, provide access, provides an adequate service to textphone users. The said requirement is premised on the assumption that there might be more than one available text relay service. E7. In reality, there is, at present, only one text relay service operating in the United Kingdom to which operators may provide access. This is the service known as "Typetalk", which has been funded by BT since 1992 (originally by charitable donation and subsequently as part of a licence obligation) and managed by the RNID. The Director General is satisfied that the service provided by Typetalk adequately meets the need of textphone users. It is accessible by users for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year; it achieves good response times and has maintained high standards of confidentiality and the professional handling of calls. Typetalk has achieved ISO 9002 certification in relation to relay and emergency services and was awarded a Charter Mark in 2000. E8. The recognition of Typetalk does not, however, preclude the future recognition of other text relay services to compete with Typetalk, provided the Director General is satisfied that such competing services are able to provide an adequate level of service.
C1. This draft determination has been prepared in recognition that a text relay service cannot be recognised as such, for the purposes of licence obligations to provide access to a Relay Service, until a determination has been made to that effect by the Director General. The Director General’s proposed decision to make such a determination is being made available in this document to all licensees and interested parties, together with the Director General’s reasons, so that they may have a reasonable opportunity to make representations. Having considered any such representations, the Director General will, if appropriate, make the determination and will notify the licensees and interested parties of that determination and his reasons for making it. Any representations should be sent to: Frank
Phillips e-mail: frank.phillips@oftel.gov.uk C2. Further copies of this consultation document can be printed from Oftel’s website. Paper copies may also be obtained from Oftel’s Research and Intelligence Unit. Oftel has arrangements in place with organisations providing transcription services, and large print, Braille and audio cassettes can be made available on request. Copies are also available on computer disc so that stakeholders without Internet access may create their own large print copies. C3. Representations must arrive at Oftel no later than Monday, 24 September 2001. All non-confidential representations will be published. If any part of your representation is confidential, and not for publication, please include this in a separate annex and ensure that it is clearly marked as confidential. In the interests of transparency, please avoid confidentiality markings wherever possible. It would be helpful if representations could be delivered by e-mail. However, copies may also be posted or faxed to the address above. If any stakeholders are unable to supply their comments in one of these ways they should contact Frank Phillips to discuss alternatives. C4. Given the narrow scope of this proposal, Oftel does not plan on this occasion to allow a further period during which observations may be made on the representations made by others. Nevertheless, in the interests of transparency, all non confidential representations will be published. C5. Representations will be accessible via a link created on the title page of the electronic text of this document. This can be found in the Publications section of Oftel’s website under the classification Licensing and Enforcement Actions. Paper copies of representations will also be made publicly available in Oftel’s Research and Intelligence Unit. Appointments to view written comments in this way, which must be made in advance, may be arranged by phoning: 020 7634 8761 (fax: 020 7634 8946).
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