App to assist deaf mobile-phone users hits FCC roadblock

It has been nearly two years since Miracom sought Federal Communications Commission approval for an app designed to help the deaf use mobile phones.

The app, known as InnoCaption, allows deaf users to “hear” a person talking on the end of a call with the help of a stenographer who transcribes the conversation. But Miracom needs FCC approval to gain access to a government fund that would allow deaf customers to use the app for free. The FCC, troubled that the $700 million fund has become riddled with fraud, is refusing to grant any new companies access to the fund. The fund stands to become heavily burdened as aging baby boomers join the 48 million Americans who have some form of hearing loss. Fraud, therefore, is something agency officials say that they can’t afford.