§ 39-1-42 - Access to telephone information services for persons with disabilities.
SECTION 39-1-42
§ 39-1-42 Access to telephone informationservices for persons with disabilities. – (a) The public utilities commission shall establish, administer and promote aninformation accessibility service that includes:
(1) A statewide telephone relay service and, through thecompetitive bidding process, contract for the administration and operation ofsuch a relay system for utilization of the telecommunications network by deaf,hard of hearing and speech impaired persons;
(2) The adaptive telephone equipment loan program capable ofservicing the needs of persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, severely speechimpaired, or those with neuromuscular impairments for use with a single partytelephone line, to any subscriber who is certified as deaf, hard of hearing,severely speech impaired, or with neuromuscular impairments by a licensedphysician, audiologist, speech pathologist, or a qualified state agency,pursuant to chapter 23 of this title; and
(3) A telephone access to the text of newspaper programs toresidents who are blind, deaf or blind, visually impaired, or reading impairedwith a single party telephone line.
(b) The commission shall establish, by rule or regulation, anappropriate funding mechanism to recover the costs of providing this servicefrom each residence and business telephone access line or trunk in the state,including PBX trunks and centrex equivalent trunks and each service line ortrunk, and upon each user interface number or extension number or similarlyidentifiable line, trunk, or path to or from a digital network. Notwithstandingthe foregoing, there shall not be any additional funding mechanism used tocharge each residence and business telephone access line or truck in the state,including PBX trunks and centrex equivalent trunks and each service line ortrunk, or upon each user interface number or extension number or similarlyidentifiable line, trunk or path to or from a digital network, to recover thecosts of providing the services outlined in subsections (a)(1), (2) or (3)above.
(c) The commission, with the assistance of the statecommission on the deaf and hard of hearing, shall also develop the appropriaterules, regulations and service standards necessary to implement the provisionsof subsection (a)(1) of this section. At a minimum, however, the commissionshall require, under the terms of the contract, that the relay service provider:
(1) Offer its relay services seven (7) days a week,twenty-four (24) hours a day, including holidays;
(2) Hire only qualified salaried operators with deaf languageskills; and
(3) Maintain the confidentiality of all communications.
(d) [Deleted by P.L. 2004, ch. 504, § 3.]
(e) The commission shall collect from the telecommunicationsservice providers the amounts of the surcharge collected from their subscribersand remit to the department of human services an additional ten thousanddollars ($10,000) annually commencing in fiscal year 2005 for the adaptivetelephone equipment loan program and forty thousand dollars ($40,000) to thedepartment of human services for the establishment of a new telephone access tothe text of newspaper programs. The surcharge referenced hereunder shall begenerated from existing funding mechanisms and shall not be generated as aresult of any new funding mechanisms charged to each residence and businesstelephone access line or trunk in the state, including PBX trunks and centrexequivalent trunks and each service line or trunk, or upon each user interfacenumber or extension number or similarly identifiable line, trunk or path to orfrom a digital network.