Sprint has been ordered by the FCC to pay a fine of $1.2 million after it was discovered that the carrier's network was unable to properly handle 911 calls from individuals with hearing difficulties. Unfortunately, Sprint was neglecting the Captioned Telephone Service which provides the closed-captions for the emergency calls.
The firms that provide the technology, along with Sprint, let the system fall for nearly six months, which meant anyone with a hearing disability that called in that time frame could not get through. Even worse is that the FCC provides a subsidy to carriers to maintain the services, and Sprint continued to collect the money while the service was down. Sprint is now required to pay the $1.2 million fine, and ensure that the functionality is in proper running order going forward.
