FCC OKs NPRM on Revised Hearing-Aid Compatible Handset Rules, Over Rosenworcel, O'Rielly Concerns
The FCC approved 5-0 Thursday an NPRM seeking comment on whether the FCC should update its hearing aid standards, based on American National Standards Institute (ANSI) 2019 standards. Current rules are based on 2011 standards. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said the FCC must address the issue that last year’s ANSI standards don’t take into account new 5G phones using high-band spectrum.
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“We have work to do to ensure that our wireless 5G future does not leave anyone behind” and the standard doesn’t include high band, Rosenworcel said. “The standard the agency proposes to adopt here does not cover frequencies above 6 GHz,” she said: “But to date our efforts to push new spectrum into the market in the 5G era have only involved millimeter wave spectrum well above the 6 GHz band. I think it is vital that we understand the impact of these new frequencies on hearing-impaired individuals and devices now, and not leave these issues for later.”
“It’s my understanding that ANSI has not addressed [those bands] yet,” said Wireless Bureau Chief Donald Stockdale: "When it does so, we'll look into it."
Carr told reporters he met with officials at Gallaudet University this week and discussed the high band. “Their position is that the technology for testing for hearing-aid compatibility on frequencies above 6 GHz, and the equipment for doing it, hasn’t been invented yet,” he said: “That’s a challenge in the standard-setting process.” It doesn’t make sense for the FCC to wait, he said.
Commissioner Mike O’Rielly didn’t address the item during the meeting but had a quibble in a written statement. “Because technology is consistently changing, I generally prefer that we refrain from adopting specific standards into our rules,” he said: “We can achieve the same outcome without fixating on a standard that, in most instances, represents a moment frozen in time. Otherwise, the Commission can find itself and its corresponding rules naturally outdated. There are several prominent recent examples of such an outcome, and this may become yet another.” A Wireless Bureau official said the FCC has always put the standard directly in the rules.
Under the FCC proposal, handset makers would be able to use either the 2011 or 2019 ANSI standards during a transition period. The NPRM also proposes to update hearing aid compatibility labeling requirements and to “remove unnecessary or superseded rule provisions and seek comment on ways to simplify and update the hearing aid compatibility rules.”
“The action proposed by the FCC today would ensure that its hearing aid compatibility requirements fully satisfy their purpose and reflect technological advances,” said an FCC news release. The FCC later released the NPRM.
Commissioner Brendan Carr said adopting the new standards is important. Mobile phones use frequencies that “can cause interference,” he said: “Volume control, or the perceived volume and sound of a call, also can be a problem area. For persons using hearing aids, sound can be heard as loud and then soft, and its somewhat common for the low frequencies to drop off, making a call sound tinny or tough to follow. With today’s notice, we propose to address many of those problems.”
“While the services and equipment upon which we’ve focused our accessibility efforts may have changed over the years, the mobile handset has become critical to full participation in our society,” said Commissioner Geoffrey Starks: “As smartphones have become ubiquitous throughout this country, they connect people to their families, friends, and the wider world in ways unimaginable just a few years ago.”