Somewhat Silent

People!
For those of you who live in the States and want to advocate for nation-wide CapTel services, or just advocate for deaf people rights in general, read below and write, Write, and WRITE!!!
thnx & Happy Holidays!

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As a person who has expressed interest in CapTel, yet found it not available in your state, you may be interested in knowing that the FCC is now considering whether to require captioned telephone service throughout the United States.

On October 31, 2005, 13 national consumer organizations petitioned the FCC, asking the FCC to make captioned telephone service available to any person in any state. The FCC is now seeking the public’s thoughts on this petition. The Commission wants to hear from consumers like you to know whether this is something that you want.

If you are you interested in seeing captioned telephone service become a permanent, full time service in all states in the U.S., you now have the opportunity to share your views with the FCC. It would be best to send in your comments by December 30, 2005, when the first round of comments are due. If you wish to read a copy of the consumer coalition petition, it is available on Self Help for Hard of Hearing’s website at http://www.hearingloss.org/html/fccpetition.html

E-filing Instructions

There are three ways to file a comment with the FCC.

The easiest way is to file comments that are brief (under a page):

1. Go to: http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/ecfs/Upload/. When you get to that page, scroll down and click the circle next to
“Telecommunications Relay Service Docket 03-123.”
2. Then scroll down again and click “continue.” You will be brought to a page to fill in brief comments.
3. Type in your name, and address in the form provided.
4. In the section marked “Send a brief comment to FCC,” tell the FCC whether you believe that captioned telephone service
should be mandated. If you do believe it should be required in all states, briefly explain why. If you are in a state that
presently does not have this service, you can note that as well.

The second way to file comments that are longer (more than a page):

1. Go to: http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/ecfs/Upload/. On the left hand side, under “other comments,” you will see the option
to use “the expert version” to file comments for proceedings not listed on ECFS Express. Click that, which will take you
to the main ECFS page.
2. On the right side of the screen, under ECFS Main Links, you will see an option that says “Submit a Filing.” Click that.
3. Fill out the form, putting 03-123 as the proceeding (line #1). Note that while your name and address are required,
having an attorney or law firm is not.
4. At the bottom, there is another box entitled “Send Comment Files to the FCC (Attachments)” To the right of that is a
box entitled “browse.” Browse to your computer files.
5. Click on the proper document, select a file type (e.g. Microsoft WORD) in the middle box, and click “Send Attached File.”
6. If you have a second document to send, on the next page, you will be prompted to send additional documents or finish
the transaction.

The third way to send comments to the FCC is by mail. You can mail your comments to Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20554. Please refer to CG Docket No. 03-123 on your comments if you send them in by paper. Because of mail delays, you may want to send your comments in around 2 weeks before the deadline.

If you miss the deadline of December 30, 2005, don’t worry. The FCC will be accepting a second round of comments that are due by January 17, 2006. (Note that you can even submit comments if you miss that deadline, only you would need to write down “ex parte letter” on your filing if you file after January 17th.)

Thanks for being a concerned citizen and sharing your views with your public officials.