Decision Ensures Continuity of Services to State’s Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Speech-Impaired Consumers

ALBANY — The New York State Public Service Commission (Commission) today designated T-Mobile USA, Inc. (T-Mobile) and Hamilton Relay, Inc. (Hamilton Relay) to become providers of telecommunication relay service and captioned telephone services, respectively, in New York State beginning July 1, 2022.

“Our decision to designate T-Mobile and Hamilton Relay to provide communication options for those individuals that are hard of hearing or deaf and speech-impaired is an important one,” said Commission Chair Rory M. Christian. “Telecommunication must be accessible and reliable for all New Yorkers, especially those with disabilities. Our decision today ensures continuity of these important services to these consumers.”

Telecommunications relay service, or TRS, provides intrastate telephone communications between deaf, hard of hearing, speech-impaired individuals, and non-impaired individuals. Using TRS, any end-user in New York can obtain the assistance of a relay operator, at no charge to the end-user, to facilitate a telephone conversation between a voice telephone caller and a caller who uses a text telephone (TTY) or a personal computer in lieu of a telephone. The relay operator types the words spoken by a voice caller and transmits them to the TTY user, and in turn, will relay by voice the words typed by the TTY caller to the voice caller.

Captioned telephone service, or CTS, also free to the end-user, allows users to receive word-for-word captions of their telephone conversation on a special telephone that has a built-in screen to display in text (captions) everything the other person on the call says. The CTS user, on one line, can speak to the called party and simultaneously listen to the other party and read captions of what the other party says. A specially trained communication assistant re-voices the information conveyed by the non-CTS user and automated speech recognition technology automatically transcribes the communication assistant’s voice into captions displayed on the captioned telephone.

In anticipation of the June 30, 2022, expiration of the current TRS and CTS contracts, the Commission considered a petition requesting that the Commission award the next contract for TRS to T-Mobile and the contract for CTS to Hamilton Relay.

The contracts commence on July 1, 2022, for an initial four-year period, with possible term extensions of three years and two years, ultimately ending June 30, 2031. Designating T-Mobile and Hamilton Relay to provide TRS and CTS, will assure continuity of these important services to the State’s deaf, hard of hearing, and speech-impaired consumers.

These services are funded by all regulated telecommunication providers operating in the State of New York, based upon net revenues.

The Commission’s rulings in this proceeding may be obtained by going to the Commission Documents section of the Commission’s Web site at www.dps.ny.gov and entering Case Number 21-C-0570 in the input box labeled "Search for Case/Matter Number". Many libraries offer free Internet access. Commission documents may also be obtained from the Commission’s Files Office, 14th floor, Three Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12223 (518-474-2500). If you have difficulty understanding English, please call us at 1-800-342-3377 for free language assistance services regarding this press release.