FCC Issues Hearing Aid Compatibility NPRM for Wireline, Wireless Handsets

The FCC proposed to change hearing aid compatibility (HAC) rules for both wireline and wireless handsets. The commission in an NPRM released Friday proposed in the wireline arena to: (1) adopt an industry standard developed by the Telecommunications Industry Association that "appears likely" to help people with hearing loss select phones “with sufficient volume control to meet their communication needs and provide greater regulatory certainty for the industry”; and (2) apply the agency’s phone volume control and other HAC requirements “to handsets used for VoIP services, pursuant to the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (CVAA).” For wireless, the FCC sought comment on a proposal to set a standard for handset volume control “to ensure more effective acoustic coupling between handsets and hearing aids or cochlear implants.” The commission also proposed to require manufacturers to use exclusively a 2011 wireless standard developed by an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) committee “to certify future handsets as hearing aid compatible; and eliminate the power-down exception if manufacturers are required to test and rate handsets exclusively" under that standard. Finally, to implement a CVAA provision and simplify the process for achieving handset compliance with HAC requirements, the FCC sought comment “on a process for enabling industry to use new or revised technical standards for assessing hearing aid compatibility compliance, prior to Commission approval of such standards.” Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said he supported most of the notice but partially dissented due to concerns that FCC proposals to implement CVAA Section 701(c) on standard setting and HAC compliance “may lead to an overly expansive interpretation of the statute,” permit “inappropriate Commission intervention in the standards process” and allow “excessive delegation to Commission staff.”