T-Mobile Accessibility filed a Petition for Rulemaking in August 2022 requesting the elimination of the ASCII requirement. The Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau granted a conditional two-year waiver of the ASCII requirement to T-Mobile and Hamilton on November 22, 2024.

Following the waiver, one TTY-based TRS provider reported that it has not had a single request to have ASCII made available. The Federal Communications Commission has not received any inquiries or complaints from consumers regarding the availability of the ASCII-format.

Data from a three-month period in 2022 showed that total ASCII usage of TTY-based Telecommunications Relay Services did not exceed 87 minutes. This usage represented approximately 0.01 percent of total TTY-based Telecommunications Relay Services minutes during that reported period.

Fewer than 10 users placed ASCII calls in any month during the reported period. There are two providers of TTY-based telecommunications relay service currently operating under these regulations.

Baudot remains the predominant TTY-based TRS format, currently accounting for almost all TTY-based TRS communications. The Telecommunications Equipment Distribution Program Association and the National Association of State Relay Administrators stated that ASCII equipment is no longer commercially available.

The rule affects small entities in the All Other Telecommunications industry, where 60.19 percent of firms are small. The Federal Communications Commission determined that the rule is nonmajor under the Congressional Review Act.

The Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs concurred that the rule is nonmajor under the Congressional Review Act. The FCC sent a copy of the Order to Congress and the Government Accountability Office. The Order does not contain new or modified information collection requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

Timeline

The Federal Communications Commission adopted a final rule eliminating the requirement for Text Telephone-based Telecommunications Relay Services to support the American Standard Code for Information Interchange format on August 21, 2026. On the same date, the rule eliminates the definition of ASCII from the Commission’s Telecommunications Relay Service rules, and the FCC determined that the rule is nonmajor under the Congressional Review Act. The FCC sent a copy of the Order to Congress and the Government Accountability Office on August 21, 2026, while the rule relieves providers of the obligation to maintain ASCII-compatible hardware and software systems and amends section 64.604(b)(1) of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Why It Matters

The removal of the ASCII requirement reflects the near-total obsolescence of the format in modern telecommunications relay services, with usage dropping to less than 0.01 percent of total minutes. By eliminating the mandate to support outdated hardware and software, the Federal Communications Commission reduces regulatory burdens on providers, including small entities that make up 60.19 percent of firms in the All Other Telecommunications industry.

This regulatory update aligns federal rules with current market realities, where Baudot remains the predominant format and ASCII equipment is no longer commercially available according to industry associations. The decision follows a formal petition process initiated in 2022 and a subsequent waiver granted in 2024, demonstrating a structured approach to retiring legacy technical standards without disrupting service for the fewer than 10 users who previously relied on the format monthly.