Telecommunications Industry Association cites industry's past efforts working with the disability community to meet its needs.
Washington, D.C. – The Telecommunications Industry (TIA) has filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to the Commission's request for comments addressing questions raised at its "Broadband Opportunities for Individuals with Disabilities" Workshop on August 20, held as part of a series in development of its National Broadband Plan.
"The National Broadband Plan is an ideal vehicle to address broadband accessibility and to create workable solutions to bring broadband to all Americans, including those with disabilities," said TIA Vice President for Government Affairs Danielle Coffey. "TIA appreciates not only the opportunity to share its technical expertise to augment the Commission's understanding of this complex issue but to work in concert with the Commission in developing achievable solutions. The ‘Broadband Opportunities for Individuals with Disabilities' Workshop held on August 20th was an important step to opening an honest discussion on accessible communications and the valuable role broadband can play."
TIA also strongly recommended that the Commission should encourage and accommodate a consensus based approach between industry and the disability community. This consensus based approach was successful in the development of the Commission's current hearing aid compatibility (HAC) rules. The Commission should continue to use the current complaint process to identify problems that can be addressed in this manner.
Among their numerous lines of business, TIA member companies design, produce, and deploy a wide variety of devices with the goal of making technology accessible to all Americans – an objective TIA shares with the Commission.
Industry has worked voluntarily and productively with the disability community on a number of accessibility initiatives to achieve this goal.
"TIA looks forward to working further with the FCC and the disability community to tap broadband's potential to bring accessible technology to all Americans," said Coffey.
TIA's comments have been posted on TIA's FCC filings page at tiaonline.org.
For more information on this matter, please contact Danielle Coffey at dcoffey@tiaonline.org.
Sign up for RSS news feeds on TIA news.
About TIA
The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) represents the global information and communications technology (ICT) industry through standards development, advocacy, tradeshows, business opportunities, market intelligence and world-wide environmental regulatory analysis. With roots dating back to 1924, TIA enhances the business environment for broadband, mobile wireless, information technology, networks, cable, satellite and unified communications. Members' products and services empower communications in every industry and market, including healthcare, education, security, public safety, transportation, government, the military, the environment and entertainment. TIA co-owns the SUPERCOMM® tradeshow and is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Visit tiaonline.org.
TIA's Board of Directors includes senior-level executives from ACS, ADC, ADTRAN, Alcatel-Lucent, ANDA Networks, AttivaCorp, Avaya, Bechtel Communications, Inc., Cisco Systems, Corning Incorporated, Ericsson, Inc., GENBAND, Inc., Graybar, Henkels & McCoy, ILS Technology, Intel Corporation, Intersect, Inc., LGE, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia Siemens Networks, Nortel, Openwave, Inc., Panasonic Computer Solutions Co., Powerwave Technologies, Qualcomm, Research In Motion, Sumitomo Electric Lightwave Corporation, Tellabs, Tyco Electronics, Ulticom, Inc., and Verari Systems. Advisors to the Board include FAL Associates, Orca Systems and Telcordia Technologies.
please sign in to rate this article
45494
