Wireless Phone and Hearing Aid Compatibility Update -
Part 1
Editor: More and more hearing aid users who really want to use a
wireless phone (cell phone) are able to put together the appropriate
equipment to make that happen. That's due to a number of factors,
including improved wireless phone technology, greater awareness of the
interference problems, better accessories, etc. But the goal is still
for people with hearing loss (at least those who are able to use a
landline phone) to be able to use any wireless phone without special
equipment.
Here's a report on progress in that area. This article was written by
Paul Kirby and originally appeared in the May 1 issue of
Telecommunications Report. It is reprinted with permission.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau is making progress in a
proceeding examining whether it should limit or revoke a mobile phone
exemption from rules requiring phones to be compatible with hearing
aids. Bureau officials say they expect to make recommendations to the
Commission by early-to-mid summer.
The Hearing Aid Compatibility (HAC) Act of 1988 requires that nearly
all new telephones be hearing aid compatible. The law exempts mobile
phones but directs the FCC to assess periodically whether continued
exemptions are appropriate. Many people with hearing aids or cochlear
implants find it difficult to use digital phones because of interference
problems.
The Commission adopted a notice of proposed rulemaking in 2001 in
Wireless Telecommunications docket 01-309 seeking comments on whether it
should limit or revoke the exemption for mobile phones (TR, Nov. 19,
2001).
"We've been having very active dialogue with the [wireless]
industry, with folks in the hearing aid community [and] manufacturers of
phones and hearing aids ... to try to inform that decision-making,"
Catherine W. Seidel, a deputy chief of the wireless bureau, told
reporters during an April 14 briefing (see separate story). "We
have gathered a lot of data ... so I think we're in a good
position."
John B. Muleta, the bureau's chief, said the agency was working with
the Food and Drug Administration, which has jurisdiction over hearing
aids, and expected to make recommendations to the Commission this
summer.
Advocates for the hearing-impaired have asked the Commission to
revoke the exemption, but representatives of the wireless industry have
said that such a mandate is premature because a technological solution
to measure digital phone-hearing aid interference is still unproven.
Stakeholders have worked together to develop a technical standard for
measuring that interference. The American National Standards Institute
(ANSI) C63.19 standard is designed to measure whether a particular phone
will cause interference to a particular hearing aid. But some in the
wireless industry say the standard needs additional
"validation" and testing before it can be used commercially.
A portion of the standard deals with wireless phone-hearing aid
compatibility. That part would measure the parameters for
"coupling" telecoils (T-Coils) in hearing aids with those in
digital phones.
"This is something that requires more work by everybody,
including the hearing aid industry," said Diane Cornell, vice
president-regulatory policy for the Cellular Telecommunications &
Internet Association, referring to both the interference and
compatibility issues. Testing is necessary to ensure that the
interference standard works in the real world, Ms. Cornell told TR.
Advocates for the hearing-impaired, who first asked the FCC to revoke
the mobile phone exemption in 1995, are tired of waiting. They say that
the ASNI standard works and the FCC should mandate its use.
Brenda Battat, director-public policy and state development for Self
Help for Hard of Hearing People, said stakeholders made considerable
progress toward finding a solution to hearing aid-mobile phone
interference between 1995 and 2000. But she said that momentum stalled,
and she "lost all my optimism" that the problem would be
addressed without a regulatory mandate.
For their part, hearing aid manufacturers say they are ready to work
to ensure that their products are immune from "most
interference" coming from digital phones that are manufactured to
the ANSI standard. "We haven't been able to figure out what it is
that they [the wireless industry] have a problem with," said Peter
Tannenwald, an attorney for the Hearing Industries Association, which
represents hearing aid makers. "We think the standard is alright.
We think it's workable."
Mr. Tannenwald told TR that the hearing aid industry had worked hard
in recent years to make its products more immune to interference from
digital mobile phones - something the wireless industry has repeatedly
urged.
Part 2
