Little Consensus Seen on Whether Current HAC Rules Are Enough

"The HAC rules are fulfilling their purpose,” CTIA said. “Consumers’ choices among mobile handsets have exploded.” Handset makers offer 302 models, according to a recent FCC report, compared to 124 reported in 2006, CTIA said (http://xrl.us/bobzsy). “As this multiplicity of handsets with diverse features has become available, the wireless industry’s compliance with the HAC rules and its commitment to the HAC rating system have provided a wide, innovative array of handset choices at a variety of price points to consumers who use hearing aid devices.”

CTIA said the FCC, in particular, should not modify the HAC rules that govern inductive coupling between handsets and hearing aid devices with telecoils. “In fact, a mandated emphasis on telecoil coupling would needlessly raise wireless industry (and ultimately consumer) costs while chilling innovation,” the group said. “In contrast to acoustic coupling, telecoil coupling requires special hardware to be inserted into wireless handsets. Such hardware ultimately adds costs to consumers and inhibits innovation as manufacturers must design handsets to satisfy a new regulatory obligation."

"We do not advocate any new changes to HAC regulations as wireless handset manufacturers are at this time working towards implementing the 2011 HAC standard, and ... as manufacturers and carriers do phase in the new standard, consumer education and awareness will also increase,” TIA said (http://xrl.us/bobztn). TIA encouraged the FCC to rely on “voluntary consensus-based standards” as it moves forward. “Voluntary consensus standards, in the view of TIA, are developed under the open [American National Standards Institute] process and provide assurance to those considering adopting the standards that the standards represent the agreement amongst a majority of key players within a sector,” TIA said. “This process also guarantees that any organization or individual -- including a Federal agency -- has the opportunity to engage in the process and work with other stakeholders to shape the standard as needed, something that non-consensus standards cannot guarantee."

TIA complained that it’s difficult at this early stage to answer questions about the net effect of the FCC’s adoption last year of an update to its standard for the measurement of compatibility between wireless communications devices and hearing aids. “Many of the questions asked by the Commission are difficult to quantifiably answer because the new HAC standard was adopted so recently, and because manufacturers are now only working to integrate the new standard into design, testing, and manufacturing processes to ensure full compliance with the Commission’s rules,” TIA said. “However, we believe that implementation of the 2011 update will greatly help to address such market developments as new 3G and 4G handsets being more widely available and increased telecoil use in hearing aids, and many other new challenges."

The Hearing Loss Association of America, filing with six other groups representing the deaf and hard of hearing (http://xrl.us/bobzus), said an online survey they did last month showed many problems remain. Consumers who need a HAC phone get most of their advice at the store when they go in to make a purchase, the groups said. “However, when consumers arrive at stores to seek information about particular models, they complain that staff does not know about HAC phones.” Many respondents “continue to voice frustration” with the difficulty of finding an appropriate device and “some go so far as to say they have given up the search,” the groups said. “When the phone consumers are most interested in does not work with their hearing aid, they will resort to some less desirable work around (e.g., the use of the speaker phone, neckloop, ear buds or taking out their hearing aids altogether),” the filing said. “None of these work-around solutions are ideal, because they either circumvent the best use of their hearing devices or require attaching accessories to their phone that are awkward to set up in time to receive an incoming call."

HIA, which represents the manufacturers of hearing aids, said its members have run into roadblocks trying to get basic information on the characteristics of handset earpieces, “including typical volume, volume range, distortion, and frequency range of the acoustic audio output and the strength of the DC magnetic field generated by the earpiece,” from handset makers. “HIA has approached industry trade associations on the wireless handset side repeatedly to open channels of communication to help improve hearing aid design,” the group said (http://xrl.us/bobzvi). “While the handset industry has been cordial, it has stood by its position that intense competition makes it impossible for its members to disclose handset design information. HIA still does not understand why the response characteristics of an earpiece have any competitive significance and urges the Commission to encourage more exchange of technical information among engineers, with appropriate non-disclosure agreements where there is a demonstrated need.”