COAT Position Statement: Universal Service Reform for People Who are Deaf-Blind

COAT recommendation: Allocate a targeted portion of the Universal Service Fund (USF) to meet the unique telecommunications needs of individuals who are deaf-blind.

Who will benefit? There are approximately 70,000 people living in the United States who are deaf-blind.[1] These individuals are amongst the most unserved and underserved populations with respect to the provision of telecommunications services.

Current law: There is no law to address this need at the federal level. Some, but very few, state equipment distribution programs provide free or discounted specialized customer premises equipment to residents who are deaf-blind to enable them to access the public switched telephone network. [2]

Why it is not enough: Although a few states have programs that distribute specialized customer premises equipment, the vast majority of these do not give out equipment that is specifically designed to facilitate communication by deaf-blind persons. One reason is that typically this equipment (communication devices with refreshable Braille key pads) costs thousands of dollars. The result is that of all persons with disabilities, deaf-blind individuals are the least able to access current communication systems.

Technical and Economic Feasibility: Specialized consumer premises equipment for people who are deaf-blind typically costs more than five thousand dollars per device. One such device is a Krown VTouch TTY,[3] a device with Braille output that costs $5,995 plus shipping and handling. Another device, digitally-based and portable, comes from Freedom Scientific, and sells for $6,795 plus shipping and handling.[4] A third company which manufactures telecommunications devices for the deaf, Ultratec, can also make its devices work with a Braille output for people who are deaf-blind.

A modest set-aside in the USF for these specialized products will help to ensure that this limited eligibility population will have communications capabilities to a greater extent than they can at the present time. Because of the small size of this population, this targeted amount would not be overly burdensome for the USF. At the same time, it would inform the world that as the United States moves to upgrade its national communications infrastructure, it will be bringing along the persons most likely to remain unserved and underserved – the deaf-blind population – so that they too can benefit from the fruits of new technology.

[1] American Association of the Deaf-Blind, at http://www.aadb.ort/deafblind/DB_definition.htm (last accessed June 21, 2006)

[2] More about these programs can be found by visiting the website of the Telecommunications Equipment Distribution Program Association, the trade association for these equipment distribution programs, http://www.tedpa.org/tedpainfo/stateprograms.html.

[3] See http://www.krownmfg.com/html/products/vtouch_tty.html (last accessed June 21, 2006)

[4]See http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_news/PressRoom/en/2005/nr_Deaf-Blind-Solutions-6-24-2005 (last accessed June 13, 2006)