Sorenson Wants More VRS Investment, Functional Equivalence

Sorenson asked the FCC to "focus on incentivizing investment" in videoconferencing platforms for deaf individuals, in a meeting with aides to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, per an ex parte filing Friday in docket 03-123 (see 2202250040). The provider also met with an aide to Commissioner Nathan Simington, asking the FCC to "reestablish functional equivalence ... as the primary objective" of the video relay service program and allow videoconference calls to be compensable "when a deaf participant relies on and uses an interpreter." Sorenson said new VRS rules "must account for the fact that interpreters' wages in VRS must be more competitive with those for non-VRS interpreting."