It has been nearly two years since Miracom sought Federal Communications Commission approval for an app designed to help the deaf use mobile phones.
The app, known as InnoCaption, allows deaf users to “hear” a person talking on the end of a call with the help of a stenographer who transcribes the conversation.
But Miracom needs FCC approval to gain access to a government fund that would allow deaf customers to use the app for free.
The FCC, troubled that the $700 million fund has become riddled with fraud, is refusing to grant any new companies access to the fund. In some cases, the agency found, scammers were using phones meant for the deaf to hide their identity. In others, doctors were paid to refer patients to the service — whether they needed it or not.
The fund stands to become heavily burdened as aging baby boomers join the 48 million Americans who have some form of hearing loss. Fraud, therefore, is something agency officials say that they can’t afford.
The FCC declined to comment for this story, but in a January government filing it said that fraud puts the fund “in jeopardy and threatens to deprive people who are deaf or hard of hearing of the benefits of the program.”
Deaf community advocates worry that the FCC’s delays are hindering progress that is critical for those who have trouble hearing as the world increasingly moves to mobile technology. “The more competition you have in the field, the better,” said Lise Hamlin, director of public policy at the Hearing Loss Association of America. “There’s no motivation to get better.”
That’s certainly a worry for Miracom. The company’s investors are growing impatient, and company executives say they are worried that it will have to kill the app. “The product would go away, the opportunity would go away,” said Chuck Owen, chief operating officer of Miracom. “We do want to provide this service, but not at all costs.”
The Interstate Telecom Relay Services Fund’s fraud problems came to light in 2012. The fund pays for technology that allows the deaf to speak to other users through live operators or computer software that transmits their conversations in real time. Miracom, Sprint, AT&T, Purple and other service providers are reimbursed for every minute of a relay call. As of October 2012, providers logged about 8 million minutes of calls per month.
Some providers have given out special captioned phones for free to those who didn’t need them, according to government filings. Others were paying audiologists who referred patients to the captioned telephone program against suggested guidelines.
App to aid deaf cell phone users waits for approval
