Carriers Vary Widely on Whether Handsets Are Hearing Aid Compatible

The FCC released information Tuesday on the number of handsets, by air interface, that individual carriers offered last year, as well as data on whether they satisfy hearing aid compatibility (HAC) requirements. The data show wide variations. AT&T, for example, offered 125 different handset models for GSM service and all but six were usable with hearing aids. All of the models offered by Verizon Wireless complied with the HAC rules. Arctic Slope Telephone Association Cooperative, in comparison, offered 48 GSM handsets and 22 weren't HAC compliant. Docomo Pacific offered 98 GSM handsets and 38 were noncompliant. Puerto Rico Telephone had 300 handsets on its rolls and 200 were noncompliant.