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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 84 / Tuesday, May 4, 2021 / Rules and Regulations Commission, 45 L Street NE, Reference Information Center, Room 1.150, Washington, DC 20554, 202 4180270.
The standard is also available for purchase from IEEE Operations Center, 445 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08854
4141, by calling 732 9810060, or going to https standards.ieee.org/.
ANSI/TIA50502018 Volume Control Standard is officially known as:
TelecommunicationsCommunications ProductsReceive Volume Control Requirements for Wireless Mobile Devices approved January 17, 2018. It is an industry approved technical standard used to evaluate the volume control capabilities of wireless handsets.
The standard is available for inspection at the Federal Communications Commission, 45 L Street NE, Reference Information Center, Room 1.150, Washington, DC 20554, 202 4180270.
The standard is also available for purchase from Telecommunications Industry Association, 1320 North Courthouse Road, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22201, by calling 703 9077700, or by visiting https global.ihs.com/csf_
home.cfm?&csf=TIA.
The Report and Order also references two additional standards: ANSI C63.19
2007 and ANSI C63.192011. Like the 2019 ANSI Standard, these standards are industry approved technical standards for determining hearing aid compatibility between wireless handsets and hearing aids. These two standards were previously incorporated by reference into the Commissions rules and that use is unchanged. They are available from the IEEE at IEEE
Operations Center, 445 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 088544141, by calling 732 9810060, or going to https
standards.ieee.org/.

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Regulatory Flexibility Act The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended RFA, requires that an agency prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis for notice and comment rulemakings, unless the agency certifies that the rule will not, if promulgated, have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. Accordingly, the Commission prepared a Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis FRFA
concerning the possible impact of the rule changes contained in this Report and Order.
Paperwork Reduction Act The requirements in revised 20.19f, h1, and i constitute new or modified collections subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
PRA, Public Law 10413. They will be submitted to the Office of Management
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and Budget OMB for review under section 3507d of the PRA. OMB, the general public, and other Federal agencies will be invited to comment on the new information collection requirements contained in this proceeding. This document will be submitted to OMB for review under section 3507d of the PRA. In addition, the Commission notes that, pursuant to the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, it previously sought, but did not receive, specific comment on how the Commission might further reduce the information collection burden for small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees. The Commission describes impacts that might affect small businesses, which includes more businesses with fewer than 25 employees, in the FRFA.
Congressional Review Act The Commission has determined, and the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, concurs, that this rule is non-major under the Congressional Review Act, 5
U.S.C. 8042. The Commission will include a copy of this Report and Order in a report sent to Congress and the Government Accountability Office pursuant to the Congressional Review Act, see 5 U.S.C. 801a1A.
Synopsis 1. The Commission updates its wireless hearing aid compatibility requirements to ensure that tens of millions of Americans with hearing loss have access to the same types of technologically advanced handsets as those without hearing loss.
2. Recently, a new ANSI standard the 2019 ANSI Standard was developed through a voluntary, consensus-driven approach. The new standard requires that the handset meet volume control specifications, applies to a wider range of frequency bands and technologies, replaces the current rating system with a more consumer-friendly approach, and harmonizes testing methodologies with international standards.
3. The Commissions rules require both device manufacturers and service providers to offer consumers a minimum number of wireless handset models that meet specified technical standards for compatibility with different types of hearing aids through acoustic coupling and inductive coupling. Manufacturers and service providers must offer a minimum number of compliant handset models for each air interface based on the total number of handset models that they offer. The Commissions rules
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currently require handset manufacturers to ensure that at least 66% of their handset models are hearing aidcompatible, with that minimum increasing to 85% on October 21, 2021.
Likewise, national wireless carriers are currently required to ensure that at least 66% of their handset models are hearing aid-compatible, with that minimum increasing to 85% on April 4, 2022.
These requirements for manufacturers and service providers are subject to a de minimis exception. The Commission has stated that it will decide by 2024
whether to require that 100% of handsets be hearing aid-compatible.
4. The Commissions rules also include a volume control requirement, adopted in October 2017, which is designed to accommodate all people with hearing loss, including those who do not use hearing aids. Under the current rules, beginning on March 1, 2021, manufacturers must ensure that all wireless handset models newly submitted for hearing aid compatibility certification are equipped with volume control that produces sound levels suitable for persons with hearing loss including persons with and without hearing aids.
5. The Commissions hearing aid compatibility rules currently incorporate a 2011 version of ANSIs hearing aid compatibility standard 2011 ANSI Standard to determine if a handset is hearing aid-compatible. In September 2019, the Accredited Standards Committee C63Electromagnetic Compatibility ANSI
Committee asked the Commission to incorporate the 2019 ANSI Standard into the Commissions wireless hearing aid compatibility rules. The 2019 ANSI
Standard makes several significant revisions in the processes for determining the compatibility between wireless handsets and hearing aids.
Specifically, the 2019 ANSI Standard requires that handsets meet volume control specifications in order to be considered hearing aid-compatible under that standard. In order to pass the volume control requirement, a handset must meet a two-part test. The first part of the requirement tests for conversational gain with a hearing aid, and the second part of the requirement tests for conversational gain without a hearing aid. To pass the first part of the requirement, a handset must have at least 6 dB of conversational gain with a hearing aid, and to pass the second part of the requirement, a handset must have at least 18 dB of conversational gain without a hearing aid. In addition, the 2019 ANSI Standard addresses additional technologies and devices operating in a wider frequency range of
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