News media information 202 / 418-0500 Fax-On-Demand 202 / 418-2830 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov ftp.fcc.govPUBLIC NO TICE Federal Communications Commission 1919 M St., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 DA 99-796 Released: April 28, 1999 "PERMIT-BUT-DISCLOSE" EX PARTE PROCEDURES ESTABLISHED FOR TTY WAIVER REQUESTS CC Docket No. 94-102 For the reasons set forth below, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau concludes that it is in the public interest to change the ex parte status of the "TTY waiver request" proceedings from "restricted" procedures set forth in Section 1.1208 of the Commission's Rules to the "permit-but-disclose" procedures set forth in Section 1.1206 of the Rules. In the E911 First Report and Order the Commission required that, as of October 1, 1997, all covered wireless carriers must be capable of transmitting 911 calls from individuals with speech or hearing disabilities through means other than mobile radio handsets, e.g., through the use of text telephone (TTY) devices. Carriers operating digital wireless systems have not been able to meet this requirement because digital systems are not able to accurately pass the Baudot-encoded audio tones produced by TTY devices. As a result, in November 1998, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau released an Order announcing that it would accept peti tions for waiver of Commission rules that require carriers to provide for communications by TTY devices on wireless digital networks. In response, the Commission received over 100 petitions seeking waiver of these rules. Subsequently, the Commission released an Order indicating that all parties filing waiver petitions would receive "temporary waivers," and that each party's waiver petition subsequently would be evaluated to determine if justifica tion existed for the grant of a permanent waiver. These petitions are currently pending. Section 1.1208 of the Commission's Rules states that for ex parte purposes, unless oth- erwise provided by the Commission or its staff, requests for waiver of the Commission's rules are subject to treatment by the Commission as restricted proceedings. In the case of TTY waiver requests filed by Commercial Mobile Radio Service (CMRS) carriers, the proceedings do not currently involve manufacturers of CMRS or TTY equipment, nor do they include consumers with hearing or speech impairments that use TTYs. Because of the policy implications and potential impact of these proceedings on persons who are not parties to the waiver proceedings, we believe it would be in the public interest to treat these proceedings as permit-but-disclose pro- ceedings under the ex parte rules. Therefore, subsequent to the release of this Public Notice, ex parte presentations that are made with respect to the issues involved in the subject waiver requests will be allowed but must be disclosed in accordance with the requirements of Section 1.1206(b) of the Commission's Rules. Specifically, Section 1.1206(b) of the Commission's Rules provides, among other things, that all parties making ex parte presentations shall file any written ex parte presentations and summaries of oral ex parte presentations in all of the TTY waiver proceedings. Two copies of any written ex parte presentations made, or, if oral, an original and one copy of a memorandum that summarizes the oral ex parte presentation, must be submitted to the Secretary for inclusion in the public record, with two copies to the Commissioners or Commission employees involved in the oral presentation. These memoranda must contain a summary of the substance of the ex parte presentation and not merely a listing of the subjects discussed. All such filings should be clearly captioned as ex parte presentations, should reference CC Docket Number 94-102 the docket number of the Wireless E911 proceeding, and must be filed no later than the next business day after the presentation. By the Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. -FCC -