Pursuant to the new Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, signed into law on October 8, 2010, the FCC established the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program by Order of April 6, 2011 to certify and provide funding to entities in each state so that they can distribute specialized customer premises equipment to low-income individuals who are deaf-blind. Information about this fund will also be found here.

Auditors

The interstate telecommunications relay services fund is requesting proposals from Accounting/Auditing firms to conduct Agreed Upon Procedure reviews of service providers.
Click here for an introduction.  Click here for the request for proposals (RFP).
Questions to the RFP have been received and answered.  Click here.

TRS Service Providers

TRS Service Provider forms, instructions, filing and reimbursement schedule are available through our extranet.  New providers of Interstate TRS services must submit a completed Notice of Participation at least 30 days prior to providing service.  Click here for instructions.

Providers who currently receive reimbursement from the TRS Fund: AT&T Accessible Communications Services, American Network, Sorenson Communications Inc, CSDVRS LLC, Sprint TRS, Kansas Relay Service Inc, Purple Language Services (HandsOn) and Purple Communications Inc (Go America), Healinc Telecom LLC, Hawk Relay LLC, Communication Access Center, SNAP Telecommunications Inc, Hamilton Communications, GraciasVRS (ASL Services Holdings, LLC), Convo Communications

Per-minute Support/Reimbursement Rates for 7/1/11 thru 6/30/12 (see FCC Order 11-104):

TTY	CTS	IP CTS	STS	VRS 1	VRS 2	VRS 3	IP
$  1.8611	$  1.7630	$  1.7630	$  2.9921	$  6.2390	$  6.2335	$  5.0668	$  1.2920

• VRS 1 support rate is applicable to the first 50,000 of compensable minutes of service during a month

• VRS 2 support rate is applicable to minutes of compensable service between 50,001 - 500,000, during a month

• VRS 3 support rate is applicable to compensable minutes of service over  500,000, during a month

Historical rate information can be found here.

Telecommunications Carriers

Telecommunications Carriers receive invoices July through June, for their share of the annual budget of the Interstate TRS Fund.  The assessments are calculated and invoiced based on information provided to (or estimated by) the Universal Service Administrative Company's (USAC) Form 499A (annually by April 1st).  Contact, revenue and other information provided on that form is provided monthly to RLSA (in case of updates), assessments are calculated and invoices due to the Interstate TRS fund, are sent out by email, (unless an email address is not provided on an Alternative Billing Arrangements Form, Form 499-A line 208, 208.1 or 212).  The email contains instructions to make a payment through our invoice and payment portal.  (Carriers have been sent an introductory message with instructions.)  Have questions?  Visit our FAQ here.

The Current Carrier Contribution Factor (July 2011 - June 2012) is 0.01058 per FCC Order 11-104 (6/30/11)

Historical rate information

Frequently Asked Questions (and answers)

Visit the FAQ here.

Reports

The Monthly Fund Status Reports provide the current status of the TRS Fund and a projection for the remainder of the funding period.  State Internet and Video Reports reflect the number of terminating calls and minutes for each.

Advisory Council

The Interstate TRS Advisory Council met April 18, 2012 at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Crystal City, VA.  Their next meeting will be in October 2012.

Questions about the TRS Fund?

Check our FAQ for answers and contact information to reach us.