British Deaf Association
  • ABOUT US
      • What we stand for
      • Our Work
      • Board
      • Management Team
      • What the BDA means to you
      • History
      • Annual Reviews
  • WHAT WE DO
    • SIGN LANGUAGE
      • BSL Act Now! Campaign
      • Legal Status for BSL
      • Our work in Government
      • BSL Facts & Resources
      • Research & Consultations
      • Sign Language Week 2022
    • OUR PROJECTS
      • Community Development
      • BSL Charter
      • Deaf Roots & Pride
      • Family Sign in the Home
      • Signs of our times
      • Advocacy Service
      • Heritage
      • Dementia Toolkit
      • Dementia Research
      • England Loneliness Project
    • VIDEO INFORMATION IN BSL
      • COVID-19
      • Family Sign at Home
      • Health & Wellbeing
      • Hate Crime Prevention (Scotland)
      • Derbyshire Crime Project
      • Leicestershire Deaf Forum COVID-19 Project
      • Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
      • Access to Justice
  • NEWS & EVENTS
    • NEWS
      • COVID-19
      • All News
      • England
      • Northern Ireland
      • Scotland
      • Wales
    • EVENTS
      • All Events
      • England
      • Northern Ireland
      • Scotland
      • Wales
    • OTHER
      • British Deaf News
      • World Federation of the Deaf
      • European Union of the Deaf
      • SHARE: The Deaf Visual Archive
      • Sign Language Week 2022
  • GET INVOLVED
    • SUPPORT US
      • Make a difference
      • Ways to Donate
      • Fundraise for the BDA
      • Fundraising Opportunities
      • Sending Sponsorship Money
      • In-Memoriam Donations
      • Gifts in Wills
      • Our Supporters
    • JOIN US
      • Current Job Opportunities
      • Become a Member
    • MORE FROM US
      • Newsletter
  • CONTACT
    • GET IN TOUCH
      • Contact Form
    • OUR OFFICES
      • England – London
      • England – Derby
      • Northern Ireland – Belfast
      • Scotland – Glasgow
      • Wales – Cardiff
    • SOCIAL MEDIA
      • Twitter
      • Facebook
      • Facebook – British Deaf News
      • Instagram
      • Linkedin
      • YouTube
  • |
  • MEMBERSHIP
  •  |
  • DONATE
  • ABOUT US
    • ABOUT US
      • What we stand for
      • Our Work
      • Board
      • Management Team
      • What the BDA means to you
      • History
      • Annual Reviews
  • WHAT WE DO
    • SIGN LANGUAGE
      • BSL Act Now! Campaign
      • Legal Status for BSL
      • Our work in Government
      • BSL Facts & Resources
      • Research & Consultations
      • Sign Language Week 2022
    • OUR PROJECTS
      • Community Development
      • BSL Charter
      • Deaf Roots & Pride
      • Family Sign in the Home
      • Signs of our times
      • Advocacy Service
      • Heritage
      • Dementia Toolkit
      • Dementia Research
      • England Loneliness Project
    • VIDEO INFORMATION IN BSL
      • COVID-19
      • Family Sign at Home
      • Health & Wellbeing
      • Hate Crime Prevention (Scotland)
      • Derbyshire Crime Project
      • Leicestershire Deaf Forum COVID-19 Project
      • Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
      • Access to Justice
  • NEWS & EVENTS
    • NEWS
      • COVID-19
      • All News
      • England
      • Northern Ireland
      • Scotland
      • Wales
    • EVENTS
      • All Events
      • England
      • Northern Ireland
      • Scotland
      • Wales
    • OTHER
      • British Deaf News
      • World Federation of the Deaf
      • European Union of the Deaf
      • SHARE: The Deaf Visual Archive
      • Sign Language Week 2022
  • GET INVOLVED
    • SUPPORT US
      • Make a difference
      • Ways to Donate
      • Fundraise for the BDA
      • Fundraising Opportunities
      • Sending Sponsorship Money
      • In-Memoriam Donations
      • Gifts in Wills
      • BDA Shop
      • Our Supporters
    • JOIN US
      • Current Job Opportunities
      • Become a Member
    • MORE FROM US
      • Newsletter
  • CONTACT
    • GET IN TOUCH
      • Contact Form
      • 07795 410 724 (SMS)
      • Oovoo/Skype
    • OUR OFFICES
      • England – London
      • England – Derby
      • Northern Ireland – Belfast
      • Scotland – Glasgow
      • Wales – Cardiff
    • SOCIAL MEDIA
      • Twitter
      • Facebook
      • Facebook – British Deaf News
      • Instagram
      • Linkedin
      • YouTube
  • |
  • MEMBERSHIP
  •  |
  • DONATE

News

18th March 2015

BT fined by Ofcom for late delivery of Next Generation Text relay

getimage

British Telecom was fined £800,000 by communications watchdog Ofcom for failing to provide an improved text-to-voice relay service between April and September last year.

In October 2012, Ofcom advised all UK landline and mobile phone providers to launch their service by the deadline of 18 April 2014.

The service, to be accessible via desktop computer, tablet or smartphone, would allow a user to type what they wanted to say and have it spoken in a phone conversation by a call centre operator – enabling easy and fluent conversations to take place.

But BT failed to finish its “Next Generation Text Service” on time and did not have it running until 24 September, claiming that there were issues with the sound quality of emergency calls.

Ofcom however pointed out that it had had 18 months notice of the need to develop the system.

Claudio Pollack, Ofcom’s consumer and content group director, said: “The size of the penalty imposed on BT reflects the importance of providing an improved textrelay service to its customers with hearing and speech impairments.

“However, BT has invested significantly in launching the new text relay service, which allows users to have conversations more easily and fluently and on new devices. We welcome the fact the service is now operating successfully.”

BDA’s Director of Community Development and Operations, Damian Barry said: “The BDA welcomes the developments in improving access and inclusion for all Deaf BSL users in telecommunications. It also hopes that this decision will act as an incentive to speed up further development work in giving Deaf users equal access to services.

“Given that the £800,00 penalty will now be passed on to HM Treasury, we call on the Minister to reinvest those funds in undertaking an urgent review of language and communication support for deaf and hard of hearing people. This will enable an identification of the gaps, shortages and areas for improvement and investment in the future.”

News United Kingdom
Previous StoryMinister Announces Awards Cap in Access to Work Changes
Next StoryFAQ: The Special Education Needs and Disabilities Reforms

Related Articles

  • Muslim-Deaf-UK-Feat
    BDA Joins Muslim Deaf UK 25 Year celebrations
    View Details
  • drp2019-feat
    DRP DAY Celebrations!
    View Details

Leave your comment Cancel Reply

(will not be shared)

SEARCH ALL NEWS

NEWS CATEGORIES

All News
England
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Wales

RECENT NEWS

  • Jock Young 2022 Webpage Screenshot
    Jock Young Award 2022: Nominate Now
  • BSL-Advis-Board-feat-WEB
    Applications open for UK Government’s BSL Advisory Board
  • 2
    BDA is 132 years old
  • DRP-Scotland-Vet-Workshops-feat-web
    DRP Scotland: Vet Workshops
  • Robin-GLA-4th-July-2022-Feat
    Greater London Authority: Engagement Sessions

BDA Head Office

We welcome your feedback and comments. Please feel free to get in touch:

Email: bda@bda.org.uk

USEFUL LINKS

Accessibility
Privacy Policy
Complaints Procedure
My Donations
British Deaf News

Registered charity - England and Wales (1031687) and Scotland (SC042409) Company No: 2881497 (England and Wales) - Copyright British Deaf Association 2022