ndallen@contact.uucp (Nigel Allen) (11/15/90)
MT&T and Island Tel to Offer Message Relay Service for the Hearing
and Speech Impaired
[Press release dated November 8, 1990 from the Canadian Radio-
television and Telecommunications Commission, slightly edited]
Hearing and speech-impaired persons in Nova Scotia and Prince
Edward Island will find it easier to communicate by telephone when
Maritime Telegraph and Telephone Company, Limited (MT&T) and Island
Telephone Company Limited (Island Tel) introduce Message Relay Service
(MRS) next spring. The companies were ordered to offer the service by
the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
(CRTC). (Reference: CRTC Telecom Letter Decisions 90-16 and 90-17,
November 8, 1990) [MT&T is the only telephone company in Nova Scotia;
Island Tel, which is partly owned by MT&T, is the only phone company
in P.E.I.]
"It's a question of fairness," said CRTC Chairman David Colville.
"The hearing and speech impaired pay full price for basic telephone
service, as well as the extra cost of buying a telecommunications
device for the deaf (TDD), and they should be able to make full use of
the service. We're pleased that both telephone companies offered to
introduce MRS."
With MRS in place, a specially-trained operator will relay messages
between a hearing or speech-impaired person who communicates with the
use of a TDD and a person who does not use a TDD to communicate.
MRS will be available from MT&T and Island Tel 24 hours a day,
seven days a week. MT&T and Island Tel will give access to MRS through
800 or equivalent service. The CRTC has approved Island Tel's proposal
to implement MRS jointly with MT&T because this is most cost-effective
that if the company made MRS available independently of MT&T.
Both MT&T and Island Tel will offer a 50% discount on all long-
distance calls placed through MRS to any part of Canada. Today's
decisions direct the companies to file the necessary tariff proposals
with the CRTC at least 30 days before they launch MRS.
The introduction of MRS was considered at public hearings held
earlier this Fall in Halifax and Charlottetown to determine the
overall revenue requirements of MT&T and Island Tel. The CRTC intends
to take into account the expense of establishing MRS when making its
final decisions on MT&T's and Island Tel's revenue requirements.
"The Commission decided to issue decisions on MRS at this time,
prior to rendering final decisions on revenue requirements, to avoid
any undue delay in the introduction of the service," Mr. Colville
explained. "We appreciate the valuable advice the Commission received
during its deliberations from the Canadian Association of the Deaf and
the Society of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Nova Scotians."
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If you would like more information, contact Maritime Tel & Tel,
Halifax, N.S. at (902) 421-5586, or CRTC Information Services in Hull,
Quebec, at (819) 997-0313.
Bell Canada and the British Columbia Telephone Company have each
offered message relay service for several years. B.C. Tel initially
contracted its MRS to the Western Institute for the Deaf in Vancouver,
but now provides the service using B.C. Tel operators.
Nigel Allen telephone (416) 535-8916
52 Manchester Avenue fax (416) 978-7736
Toronto, Ontario M6G 1V3, Canada