The FCC has released a Report and Order updating its rules on handset hearing aid compatibility. The Commission’s rules mandate wireless and terrestrial mobile service providers make available a minimum number of hearing aid-compatible handsets meeting specified technical criteria. In this Report and Order, the FCC updates those technical criteria to those in the latest 2019 American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard, ANSI C63.19-2019, “Electromagnetic Compatibility, American National Standard Methods of Measurement of Compatibility Between Wireless Communications Devices and Hearing Aids.” The updated rules provide for a two-year period to transition to exclusive use of the new ANSI standard, and extend the current volume control deadline to coincide with that transition period.
