Textphones to link the deaf with wider world

The creation of a new telecommunications service will enable people who are deaf or have speech or hearing impairments to use telephones.

The New Zealand Relay service will enable the hearing-impaired to participate in telephone conversations by using a textphone. A trained call-centre operator will convert typed text into speech for the caller and speech into typed text for the receiver.

About 7000 New Zealanders might use the service.

Disability Issues Minister Ruth Dyson said that until now a significant number of New Zealanders had been missing out on the benefits of instant telephone calls.

"It will give them more independence, access to business and employment opportunities, greater ability to participate in our communities and vital access to services in an emergency," she said.

Communications Minister David Cunliffe said the service was established as a telecommunications service obligation (TSO) and was funded through a levy on liable telecommunications service providers.

"The TSO framework lets us make services available to meet needs that are neglected in the marketplace," he said.

"It promotes inclusiveness."

Sprint New Zealand has set up a call centre in Auckland to supply the nationwide service.

Textphones will be available for a rental charge of $15 a month and the charge will be waived for people who meet the community services card income threshold.

- NZPA