FCC Acts on Requests for Waiver of Hearing and Compatibility Rules

FCC ACTS ON REQUESTS FOR WAIVER OF HEARING AID COMPATIBILITY RULES
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The Federal Communications Commission released a Memorandum Opinion and Order that addresses waiver requests filed by wireless service providers and a handset manufacturer seeking additional time to comply with a 2006 benchmark in the FCC’s hearing aid compatibility rules. The FCC’s hearing aid compatibility rules are designed to ensure that persons with hearing disabilities have full access to digital wireless services. The FCC granted or denied the individual waiver requests based on the respective showings made by each petitioner. The Order addresses 46 petitions filed by 98 facilities-based wireless carriers, one handset manufacturer, and one mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). In general, the petitions seek some limited additional time to comply with the requirement that at least two T3-rated handsets be offered. The FCC granted a petitioner’s waiver request to the extent it came into compliance no later than January 1, 2007, and demonstrated a reasonable basis for the limited extension of time. Those wireless carriers to which the FCC did not grant full waivers, and which appear to be currently in violation of the FCC’s hearing aid compatibility rules or to have been in violation in the past, have been referred to the Enforcement Bureau for further review.
http://www.fcc.gov/HAC022708.pdf

* FCC order
http://www.fcc.gov/HAC022708_1.pdf