Sprint Corp. has asked the FCC for a waiver of its rules governing IP (Internet protocol) captioned telephone service (IP CTS), similar to the relief requested by fellow IP CTS providers CaptionCall LLC and Hamilton Relay.

In its petition for waiver filed yesterday in CG dockets 13-24 and 13-123, Sprint said that it is in compliance with the requirements in section 64.605(a)(2)(iv) of the FCC rules to deliver “at the outset of the outbound leg of an emergency call: the name of the relay user and location of the emergency as well the name of the relay provider, the CA’s callback number and the CA’s identification number.” However, it said, “Sprint’s experience has shown that adherence to the rules actually slows down the delivery of emergency calls and results in the delivery of unnecessary information.”

Similarly, Sprint said it complies with the requirement in section 64.605(a)(2)(v) to immediately re-establish contact with the telecommunications relay service (TRS) user and/or the appropriate public safety answering point and resume handling the call in the event that one or both legs of an emergency call are disconnected.

“Once again, while Sprint adheres to this rule, its experience is that compliance with this rule does not help in an emergency.

“Sprint believes the PSAP or the relay user are in the best position to determine whether a 911 call should be re-established,” it said. “The CA is not in a position to know whether the emergency call was disconnected intentionally (at the natural conclusion of the call) or whether it was prematurely or unintentionally disconnected. The rule, however, places the CA in an awkward position of making this judgment call.” —Lynn Stanton, lynn.stanton@wolterskluwer.com

Courtesy TRDaily