Old people and the disabled are to get affordable access to basic communication and telecommunication services that equal those available to the wider community, in a move aimed at enhancing their quality of life.

The project is a collaborative effort involving the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre's Assistive Technology Programme and the National Telecommunication Commission.

Assistive Technology Programme director Wantanee Phantachat said the two organisations were developing a 10-year project called Telecommunication Relay Services (TRS). In a first step, TRS will provide urgent alerts and information to disabled people though a relay call centre. The centre, which will support 3G technology, will provide telephone services to people with hearing or speech disabilities. They will be able to place and receive telephone calls via short message system (SMS), multimedia messaging service (MMS), online chat, or video telephony from mobile phones, kiosks and emergency-call services.

A video relay service is also being set up to provide an online relay interpreter so disabled callers can send sign-language messages by video online or video on mobile to interpreters via the Internet. The online interpreter will then pass the conversation on to telephone users so that disabled people will be able to communicate with anyone without barriers

"We will set up video remote-interpreter kiosks, from which disabled people will be able to ask an interpreter to translate their communication to friends or family," Wantanee said. "A two-year pilot project will start early next year with five remote interpreters, to support communications from a population of 300,000 deaf and hard-of-hearing people around the country."

The two organisations have also set up a committee to consider the standardisation of telecommunication devices and services for the elderly and people with disabilities. The aim will be to develop standards for companies planning to make electronic devices for the disabled.

"We want to give the disabled the opportunity to communicate and access information without barriers, so the elderly and disabled can use these technologies in the same way as the rest of the community, including conducting online transactions," she said.

Already the National Telecommunications Commission offers a telephone service for the blind, who can call 1414. The universal service obligation line provides information services for blind callers around the country.