TASA Advisory Committee Presentation to the TASA Advisory Committee Florida Public Service Commission Staff October 25, 2018

AGENDA TASA Meeting - October 25, 2018 1:30 – 1:45 Reading of Meeting Notice – Pamela Page Initial Meeting Notes – Curtis Williams Introductions – Curtis Williams Participant Appearances 1:45 – 2:15 PSC and FCC Updates - Curtis Williams and Jeff Bates 2:15 – 2:45 FTRI 2018 Annual Report - James Forstall 2:45 – 3:00 Break (if needed) 3:00 – 3:30 Sprint Relay Update – Jeff Branch 3:30 – 4:00 Discussion/Adjourn TASA Meeting - October 25, 2018

Initial Meeting Notes Please make sure your microphone is on when speaking…the green light should be on Please silence your mobile devices during today’s meeting Please state your name before speaking so we know who is making comments for the record TASA Meeting - October 25, 2018

TASA Meeting - October 25, 2018 Tom D’Angelo Florida Association of the Deaf, Inc. 128 Bay Bridge Drive St. Augustine Beach, FL 32080 (904) 392-5746 (Voice) tomdangelo5@gmail.com Elizabeth Bradin CenturyLink 315 S. Calhoun St. Suite 500 Tallahassee, FL 32333 (850) 599-1144 (Voice) elizabeth.bradin@centurylink.com Margaret (Peggy) Brown Regional Executive Director Center for Hearing and Communication 2900 West Cypress Creek Blvd, Suite 3 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309 (954) 601-1930, Ext. 301 (Office) (954) 610-2413 (Cell) mbrown@westonfl.org mbrown@chchearing.org Rick Kottler Executive Director Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services Of the Treasure Coast, Inc. 1016 NE Jensen Beach Blvd. Jensen Beach, FL 34957 (772) 334-2233 (Voice) (772) 334-2299 (Fax) rick.kottler@dhhstc.org Cheryl Rhodes Florida Deaf/Blind Association 500 Northfield Lane The Villages, FL 32162 (352) 350-5333 (VP & Voice) cheryl2rhodes@gmail.com Maryrose Sirianni BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc., d/b/a AT&T Florida 150 South Monroe Street Suite 400 Tallahassee, Florida 32301 (850) 577-5553 (Voice) (850) 222-8640 (Fax) Maryrose.Sirianni@bellsouth.com Timothy D. Wata 12514 Cragside Lane Windermere, FL 34786 (407) 347-6337 (Voice) TWATA@cfl.rr.com TASA Meeting - October 25, 2018

PSC Contacts TASA Meeting - October 25, 2018 Curtis Williams, Regulatory Analyst IV Office of Industry Development and Market Analysis (850) 413-6924 (Voice) (850) 413-6925 (Fax) cjwillia@psc.state.fl.us Jeff Bates, Research Associate Office of Industry Development and Market Analysis (850) 413-6538 (Voice) (850) 413-6539 (Fax) jbates@psc.state.fl.us Pamela H. Page, Senior Attorney Office of the General Counsel (850) 413-6214 (Voice) (850) 413-6215 (Fax) phpage@psc.state.fl.us TASA Meeting - October 25, 2018

PSC & FCC Updates since April 18, 2018 TASA Meeting TASA Meeting - October 25, 2018

PSC Update August 2018 The PSC approved FTRI’s 2018/2019 proposed budget with modifications The proposed budget maintained the surcharge at $0.10 per access line TASA Meeting - October 25, 2018

FCC Updates The FCC recertified Florida’s Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) DA 18-733 released July 16, 2018 TASA Meeting - October 25, 2018

FCC 18-79 Report and Order, Declaratory Ruling, Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, and Notice of Inquiry On June 8, 2018, the FCC released a Report and Order, Declaratory Ruling (Order), Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM), and Notice of Inquiry (NOI) implementing reforms to Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service (IP CTS) The FCC found that use of IP CTS currently represents almost 80 percent of the total minutes compensated by the FCC’s Interstate TRS Fund The FCC has set interim IP CTS compensation rates designed to save the TRS Fund approximately $399 million over two years, to limit unnecessary IP CTS use, and improve speech-to-text automation The FCC sought input on how to better fund, administer, and determine user eligibility for the service The FCC is considering the role states and carriers can play in the provision of and support for IP CTS TASA Meeting - October 25, 2018

Overview of the 2018 Relay Order, FNPRM, and NOI Background While most other forms of TRS have shown declining demand or relatively flat demand, IP CTS growth has been exponential From 2011 to 2017, annual IP CTS minutes have grown from approximately 29 million to 363 million Estimated 2018-2019 IP CTS usage will make up about 78 percent of the total minutes compensated by the interstate TRS Fund and about 66 percent of the total interstate TRS Fund payments to TRS providers TASA Meeting - October 25, 2018

IP CTS Compensation The FCC reduced the IP CTS compensation rate to be more in line with providers’ average reasonable costs: $1.75 per minute from July 2018 through June 2019 $1.58 per minute from July 2019 through June 2020 The FCC sought comment on: The reasonableness of costs currently reported by IP CTS providers The level of subcontractor, outreach, and marketing expenses The use of historical vs. projected costs TASA Meeting - October 25, 2018

Measures to Limit IP CTS Waste and Abuse The FCC believes additional safeguards are needed: Amend rules to prohibit IP CTS providers from linking the volume control and captioning functions of an IP CTS device or software application Require IP CTS providers to include clear factual notifications on advertising brochures, websites, user manuals, and other informational materials General prohibitions on providing service to users who do not need it TASA Meeting - October 25, 2018

Restructuring the Funding of IP CTS The FCC is considering expanding the contribution base for IP CTS to include a percentage of intrastate revenues from telecommunications carriers and VoIP service providers The FCC sought comment on its conclusions and any other benefits or costs that would result from expanding the contribution base for IP CTS TASA Meeting - October 25, 2018

State Role in the Administration of IP CTS The FCC seeks further comment on whether certified state TRS programs should be allowed or required to take a more active role in the administration of IP CTS The FCC acknowledged that state TRS programs have the expertise, skills, and on-the-ground experience to assume administrative functions for IP CTS The FCC’s 2013 IP CTS Reform FNPRM also asked whether it would be desirable for states to take on IP CTS funding and administration Florida’s 2013 response commented that state legislative authority would be needed to allow for a transition, and the FCC noted this in its order TASA Meeting - October 25, 2018

Florida’s Role in Administering IP CTS Currently, Florida has no role in administering IP CTS Section 427.704(4)(a)(1.), Florida Statutes, states: [The commission shall] require all local exchange telecommunications companies to impose a monthly surcharge on all local exchange telecommunications company subscribers on an individual access line basis, except that such surcharges shall not be imposed on more than 25 basic telecommunications access lines per account bill rendered TASA Meeting - October 25, 2018

Barriers to Florida Funding IP CTS Under the current Statutes, the TRS surcharge can only be collected from local exchange company access lines The Florida Legislature may need to change the statute to address how the Florida Relay program is funded if the FCC mandates that states provide IP CTS Legislative changes could take several years to implement States don’t know the extent of the potential funding obligation TASA Meeting - October 25, 2018

State-level Competition for IP CTS Consumers currently have a choice of several IP CTS providers in Florida because it is regulated at the Federal level Section 427.704(1), Florida Statute, states in pertinent part: The telecommunications access system shall provide for the purchase of distribution of specialized telecommunications devices and the establishment of [a] statewide single provider telecommunications relay service system… (emphasis added) Adding IP CTS to Florida’s TRS contract will: eliminate competition for the service because there is no funding mechanism for the intrastate portion of the service for any provider other than the one under contract with the Commission require a statutory change to allow for more than one provider TASA Meeting - October 25, 2018

Questions or Comments? TASA Meeting - October 25, 2018