Today's Regulatory Mix: FCC Chairman Pai Makes Statement on 30th Anniversary of ADA, Colorado Revises 911 Law

FCC Chairman Pai Makes Statement on 30th Anniversary of ADA

Chairman Pai issued a press release, marking the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was signed into law on July 26, 1990 by President George H. W. Bush.

“The signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act thirty years ago was a significant milestone in our nation’s ongoing quest to provide equality for all.  The ADA recognizes that those with disabilities are equal to everyone else, bars discrimination against them, and establishes that they’ll have access to important aspects of our society, from jobs to accommodations, on par with those without disabilities. 

“The FCC’s core mission is to help ensure that every American has access to advanced communications, including the tens of millions of Americans with disabilities.  The FCC implements and enforces Title IV of the ADA, which requires telephone and VoIP companies to provide a nationwide system of telecommunications relay services.  TRS allows individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deafblind, or have speech disabilities to communicate with others in a way that’s functionally equivalent to those without disabilities. And building off the success of TRS, the FCC has leveraged new developments in technologies for accessible communications, such as automatic speech recognition, videoconferencing, and real-time text.”

“On behalf of the FCC’s dedicated staff, it is my honor to say that we join all Americans in

celebrating the ADA’s 30th anniversary.”

Colorado Revises 911 Law

The state of Colorado has enacted a law revising the existing 911 fee structure.  The new law: (1) adds a new statewide 911 charge: (2) amends the existing local 911 emergency and prepaid 911 charges; and (3) adds a new multi-line telephone system (MLTS) provision.  Going forward, the local 911 emergency telephone charge will have a maximum rate set by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC).  Both the local 911 emergency telephone charge and the statewide 911 surcharge must be collected by LEC, postpaid wireless, and VoIP providers.  Starting January 1, 2021, the prepaid wireless 911 charge will be an amount to be established annually by the PUC.  The PUC must set the statewide 911 surcharge and the prepaid wireless 911 charge annually by October 1.  Finally, under the new law, installers, managers, or operators of MLTS in Colorado must meet the requirements set forth in federal law.  Inteserra Briefing Service subscribers see Briefing dated 7/16/20

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The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s blog of telecom related regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of an Inteserra Briefing.