Microsoft, Voice on the Net Coalition Urge FCC Caution on OTT Requirements

The FCC should proceed with care in addressing mandates for over-the-top apps as the commission considers real-time text (RTT) technology as a substitute for legacy text telephone (TTY) service, Microsoft and the Voice on the Net Coalition said. They reported on a meeting with Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau staff. In April, the FCC approved an NPRM on the TTY-to-RTT transition (see 1604080053). “Given that over-the-top applications rely on the best efforts internet, the FCC should recognize the inherent characteristics and limitations of such applications and their inability to guarantee performance criteria, including with respect to access to emergency services,” the filing said. “Even where OTT applications provide interconnected VoIP service, they may still use the best efforts internet and, as a result, may be unable to guarantee the proposed performance requirements,” the filing said. “The parties also emphasized the importance of avoiding any confusion with respect to consumer expectations around the use of an OTT application to contact emergency services.” The filing was posted in docket 16-145.