Commissioners Approve Long-Awaited Order Mandating 100% HAC

FCC commissioners on Thursday approved 5-0 a draft hearing-aid compatibility order providing details on how the U.S. will reach 100% compatibility. FCC officials said the order included a few tweaks, accommodating commissioners' concerns and those of CTIA (see 2410090051) and disability advocates (see 2410150024). Commissioners voted at their monthly open meeting (see 2410170026), which was focused on consumer items. It was the last before the Nov. 5 election.

The order requires compliance within 24 months for handset makers, 30 months for nationwide carriers and 42 months for non-nationwide providers (see 2409260047). It grew out of the efforts of the HAC Task Force, which filed recommendations at the FCC in December 2022 (see 2212160063). It also adopts Bluetooth coupling and volume-control requirements that apply to all new handset models, revised labeling and website posting requirements, as well as updated reporting requirements to ensure compliance.

The FCC sought comment on implementing the requirement in an NPRM approved 5-0 last year (see 2312130019).

“Hearing loss is a big deal” and more than 48 million people in the U.S. have some form of it, said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel: “The good news is that hearing aids and other technologies that can help those with hearing loss are more advanced, accessible and affordable than ever before.”

Rosenworcel noted that two years ago, the Food and Drug Administration approved selling over-the-counter hearing aids without a prescription as well as technology that allows wireless headphones to be used as hearing aids. “These actions are powerful because they are expanding consumer choice and lowering consumer cost.”

Commissioner Brendan Carr noted how much work was involved in the order. “Sometimes, good things can take a little bit of time and a lot of effort and this is one of them,” he said. “Everyone in America deserves access to modern communications,” said Commissioner Geoffrey Starks: “All means all.”

Commissioner Anna Gomez said, “Today we decide that whenever a hard-of-hearing consumer” in the U.S. “buys a wireless phone, the phone will work with their hearing aids.” She said the commission agreed to make labeling information available in multiple languages.

“The journey to 100% [HAC] compatibility has been long and challenging,” said Linda Kozma-Spytek, consultant to the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Technology for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing at Gallaudet University. “Technological advancements have provided both barriers to, and opportunities for, improved access,” she said. Kozma-Spytek spoke at the meeting before the commissioners' vote.

“This order," agreed consumer advocate Lise Hamlin, "has been a long time coming.” Hamlin also spoke at the meeting. “It means people with hearing loss will for the first time have equal access to all phones,” she said. The order required cooperation among everyone, from the wireless industry to consumer groups, she said. Phones will continue evolving, and the FCC must monitor technology “well into the future.”

The order “importantly sets the path for 100% wireless handset compatibility while retaining the flexibility necessary to reflect marketplace developments and protect world-leading innovation in mobile devices,” said Christiaan Segura, CTIA director-regulatory affairs. “We look forward to continuing efforts with the FCC, consumer advocates, the accessibility community and industry partners as we get closer to achieving the shared goal of 100% HAC,” he said.