| PHONE companies could be sued for
discrimination because some mobile plans
disadvantage the deaf,
a report claims.
A discussion paper prepared by lobby group
the Australian Association of the Deaf
(AAD) says the hearing impaired are among the
most avid users of text messaging, sending 10
times as many messages as people with hearing.
But they miss out on special deals given to
other mobile customers such as free calls at
night because they are unable to make regular
calls and there are often no corresponding text
messaging discounts.
Deaf
groups are proposing companies give them an
equivalent amount of free short messaging
service (SMS) use.
``Telecommunications companies need to act
quickly to ensure that deaf
people are able to send SMS messages free from
mobiles with the same network, as is provided to
hearing people for off-peak services," the
AAD report says.
``Failure to do so may trigger discrimination
complaints under the Disability Discrimination
Act 1992."
Mobile carrier Vodafone is in conciliation
with AAD president Robert Adam after he
approached the Human Rights and Equal
Opportunity Commission with a complaint about
the company's pricing.
The AAD report states that anecdotal evidence
suggests deaf
people are using SMS at 10 times the rate of the
general community. Some deaf
people interviewed were sending more than 300
SMS messages a month.
The report found the advent of text messaging
gave deaf
people greater freedom and independence and was
generally economical.
Because the matter is yet to be settled Mr
Adam and Vodafone declined to talk in detail
about the action.
A Vodafone customer since 1999, Mr Adam was
in a plan that offered $17 a month in free voice
calls that he was unable to use.
When the company abolished such offers at the
end of 2001, he asked for a refund of unused
voice calls. The company offered him a $120
discount on his account. But Mr Adam said the
offer did not address the overall problem faced
by deaf
people.
A Vodafone spokeswoman said: ``We are in
conciliation and are hopeful of an amicable
result." She said while there may be some
residual contracts offering free calls, Vodafone
now charged only for services used and all new
customers received the same options.
The AAD singled out Telstra as one phone
company that provided special mobile packages
for the deaf.
An Optus spokeswoman said customers could
chose freely between contract incentives such as
free calls, free SMS and wireless internet
access.
|
