SHHH URGES FCC TO KEEP HEARING AID COMPATIBILITY RULE FOR MOBILE PHONES
Bethesda, Maryland, March 22, 2004
SHHH submitted comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today, together with the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and Telecommunications for the Deaf Inc.(TDI) in Response to the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association’s,(CTIA) Request for Reconsideration of the Hearing Aid Compatibility Rule. CTIA is fighting regulations that would work, over a period of time, toward enabling six million hearing aid wearers to use digital wireless phones.
Brenda Battat, director of public policy for SHHH stated, "Digital wireless phones are mainstream devices and people who use hearing aids and cochlear implants must have full access to them."
The FCC partially lifted the exemption for digital mobile phones from the Hearing Aid Compatibility Act of 1989 in August 2003. The final rule requires that companies have two hearing-aid-compatible phones available in two years and handsets accessible to telecoil users in three years.
SHHH has advocated over a period of eight years to revoke the exemption for mobile phones from the HAC Act. Their first petition was filed with the FCC in 1995 to request access to mobile phones for hearing aid and cochlear implant users. The handset manufacturers are seeking solutions to implement the rule and have said they are confident they will make the implementation deadline. CTIA’s request for reconsideration only delays those efforts.
You can view SHHH comments here.
There is still time for consumers to weigh in with the FCC on how important it is for you to be able to use mobile phones in your everyday lives. The deadline for commenting is March 29, 2004. Reply comments should be filed by April 13, 2004.
Comments may be filed electronically at www.fcc.gov/cgb.ecfs.
