CGB Approves New TRS Rates

The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau announced new telecom relay service rates for FY 2021-22, said an order Wednesday in docket 03-123. Interstate rates are $4.1944 per minute for TTY-based TRS; $5.3254 for speech-to-speech relay service; $2.3662 for captioned telephone service; and $1.7146 for IP relay service. The order didn't address IP captioned telephone service and video relay service rates. The bureau approved a funding requirement of $1.3 billion based on compensation levels, projected demand and projected TRS fund administration expenses. The carrier contribution factors are 0.01331 for non-IP CTS TRS and 0.00831 for IP CTS. The bureau granted T-Mobile's request to renew its waiver to allow recovery of outreach costs and denied the provider's request for an increase in the recommended compensation level to cover indirect overhead costs. T-Mobile “has not demonstrated with particularity good cause to depart from the general rule prohibiting indirect recovery of overhead on a non-cost-causative basis,” the order said.