FCC Adopts VRS NPRM but not Order, Agency Spokesman Says

The FCC adopted a video relay service (VRS) Further NPRM on circulation, a commission spokesman told us Thursday. A draft Further NPRM and interim order had been scheduled for action at the commission's Thursday meeting, but the item was removed from the agenda after being adopted, an FCC public notice said. The spokesman said the Further NPRM was adopted but not the draft order. The draft Further NPRM asked whether the commission should partially modify its four-year schedule of rate reductions and adopt possible enhancements to VRS "functional equivalence," while the draft order would have partially modified VRS rates, pending action in the further rulemaking, according to the meeting agenda released Oct. 15 (see 1510160026). The item “responds to a petition related to freezing VRS rates and seeks comment on policy changes to improve VRS features," another FCC spokesman told us last week.