ACCESS TO TELECOMMUNICATIONS FOR DEAF PEOPLE

That this House is concerned that over 50,000 deaf people, whose first language is British Sign Language (BSL), do not have equal access to telecommunications in the UK; recognises new economic research which demonstrates that if an open, competitive market for video relay services for BSL users were established, significant net benefits for the UK economy would be created; believes that deaf people have a right to access telecommunications in a manner equivalent to the way hearing people use the telephone every day and that current text-based solutions for deaf people do not provide equal access; and calls on the Government to take appropriate action to address this matter, creating a genuine opportunity for telecommunications equality for the BSL community for the first time; further notes that around 400,000 deafened and hard of hearing people who have a spoken language as their first language often cannot hear speech over the telephone; and supports telecommunications access for all people with a hearing loss for the first time.