NEWS
                                                              July 26, 1996

       GALLAUDET STUDENT AND OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL SWIMMER TOM DOLAN
     DEMONSTRATE NEW HIGH TECH PHONE SERVICE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE DEAF

       Today, local Olympic gold medial swimmer Tom Dolan from the Olympic Village in
Atlanta talked to Gallaudet student Tommy Parker at the FCC, using a new high-tech
telephone service for people with hearing disabilities. Parker and Dolan demonstrated Video
Relay Interpreting (VRI) which enables people with hearing disabilities who use sign
language, like Mr. Parker, to have phone conversations with other people on their own
telephone.

       Parker, accompanied by FCC Chairman Reed Hundt, placed a call from the FCC to
Tom Dolan in Atlanta's Olympic Village via a videoconference link to a Video Relay
Interpreting (VRI) center in Houston, Texas.

       Parker asked Dolan "How did you feel after you swam the 400 Individual Medley?"

       Dolan jokingly responded, "Tired!" He added, "It was a moment I'll never forget -- I
was so proud to bring the medal home to America. This has been an incredible week, and I
want to thank everyone in the Washington area for their support."
         
       The event, sponsored by the FCC's Disabilities Task Force, commemorated the 3rd
Anniversary of the FCC's launching of the Telecommunication Relay Services (TRS) and the
6th Anniversary of the signing of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, which
mandated that Americans with hearing and speech disabilities have access to standard voice
telephone service through the use of TRS.  

       FCC Chairman Reed Hundt noted, "There are an estimated 28 million Americans with
hearing and speech disabilities, many of whom communicate primarily in sign language. VRI
recognizes that and takes Telecommunications Relay Services one step further to better serve
people with disabilities and to fulfill the spirit of the ADA." 

       News Media Contact:  Rochelle Cohen at  (202) 418-0500
       Common Carrier Bureau contact: Pam Gregory at (202) 418-2498 voice, (202) 418-
0484 (TTY) or E-mail: pgregory@fcc.gov.

                                   -FCC-