TIA and Hearing Aid Compatibility

TIA and Hearing Aid Compatibility

"Safe harbor" technical standards are an effective tool to ensure consistency and transparency for entities seeking regulatory compliance, and TIA strongly supports the use of voluntary, consensus-based and open industry standards be used to provide guarantees of compliance with regulations where possible, though not in lieu of more general performance objectives.  Among their numerous lines of business, TIA member companies design, produce, and deploy wired and wireless devices subject to the Commission’s Hearing Aid Compatibility (HAC) requirements. We continue to closely monitor and engage on all legislative and regulatory issues that affect member companies' HAC compliance, and encourage you to contact us with any questions or concerns.
 

TIA and HLAA Work Together to Implement Cordless HAC, TIA 1083

TIA also develops standards to address HAC.  TIA's Cordless Telephone HAC Working Group, housed within the User Premises Equipment Division (UPED), coordinates activities related to:
 
  • Creation of a TIA standard to test cordless phones for hearing aid compatibility,
  • TIA membership in ANSI-ANS C63, and
  • Outreach to the FCC and disability advocates.
 
Informal HAC complaints to the FCC have affected nearly all cordless telephone manufacturers and are therefore the area of most concern to UPED.  The Cordless Telephone HAC Working Group has provided regular update reports to UPED. 
 
UPED liaisons with representatives of the disabilities advocacy group Self Help for Hard of Hearing People (SHHH) and researchers from Gallaudet University. These important efforts have served to highlight the willingness of the cordless telephone industry to identify and resolve HAC issues.
 
UPED also sponsors Engineering Committee TR-41 continues efforts to address the problem of digital cordless telephones creating interference when magnetically coupled to hearing aids. TR-41.3 has developed a measurement procedure for characterizing the undesired magnetic noise and is working with Gallaudet University to establish appropriate performance criteria based on hearing aid users' experiences with various digital cordless telephones. 
 
TIA is a member of ANSI-ANS C63.  C63 has been working for several years on hearing aid compatibility for wireless phones and on testing for compliance with HAC rules. TIA's goal as a participant in this process is to prevent any occurrence of duplication of standardization efforts in establishing testing procedures for cordless phone HAC compliance.

TIA HAC-Related Filings

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

 

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