Voglio sapere a riguardo di…

23622

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 84 / Tuesday, May 4, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES

have a meaningful opportunity and sufficient time to identify and become comfortable with a handset before purchasing it.
G. Other Rule Changes and Removing Outdated Rules 45. Diverse Handset Offerings. The Commission adopts the Commissions proposal to eliminate the refresh and differing levels of functionality requirements set forth in 20.19c1ii, c4ii, and d4ii, which require handset manufacturers and service providers to update their selection of hearing aid-compatible handsets periodically. Under the differing levels of functionality and refresh rules, manufacturers and service providers must offer hearing aidcompatible handsets that contain the same range of features and functions contained in handsets offered to hearing people. This rule was adopted to ensure that people with hearing loss have similar choices in types of handsets as consumers without hearing loss. The Commissions current benchmark deployment rules, however, render these rules unnecessary, and the Commission eliminates these requirements from its rules, including the requirement that service providers make available on their websites information about the differing levels of functionality of each handset they offer. The Commissions current deployment benchmarks require 66% of handsets to be hearing aid-compatible and, in the near future, will require 85%
of all handsets to be hearing aidcompatible. The Commissions deployment benchmarks ensure that consumers with hearing loss have robust choices in hearing aidcompatible handsets. CTIA and Samsung agree that these requirements are no longer necessary given the large number of hearing aid-compatible handsets on the market.
46. HLAA warns that eliminating these requirements could reduce the incentives for manufacturers and service providers to offer new hearing aidcompatible handsets; it asserts that these requirements should stay in place until service providers are required to offer 100% hearing aid-compatible handsets. The Commission finds, however, that its deployment benchmarks will ensure that manufacturers and service providers continue to have incentives to offer hearing aid-compatible handsets. The Commission adopted the refresh and differing levels of functionality requirements at a time when its deployment benchmarks were much lower. At that time, there was a need to
VerDate Sep<11>2014

16:02 May 03, 2021

Jkt 253001

ensure handset manufacturers and service providers met their deployment benchmarks using a diverse mixture of handsets rather than relying exclusively on entry level or top-of-the line offerings. The Commissions current deployment benchmarks have eliminated this concern. In fact, handset manufacturer compliance reports show that more than 89% of the new handset models manufacturers offered between August 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020 are hearing-aid compatible. Some manufacturers, such as Samsung, ensure that all of their handsets are hearing aidcompatible. Given these facts, the Commission eliminates the refresh and differing levels of functionality requirements in 20.19c1ii, c4ii, and d4ii because they no longer serve their intended purpose.
47. Certification and Reporting Dates.
The Commission adopts its proposal to revise the date by which service providers must file certifications of compliance with the Commissions hearing aid compatibility provisions and the date that manufacturers must file compliance reports pursuant to 20.19i1. Presently, service providers must file a short form certifying that they are in compliance with the Commissions hearing aid compatibility provisions by January 15
each year, and handset manufacturers must file a longer form showing compliance with these provisions by July 15 each year. The filing window for the certifications and reports opens 30
days prior to the filing deadline. The Commission uses these certifications and reports as the primary method of ensuring that handset manufacturers and service providers are complying with the Commissions hearing aid compatibility rules.
48. Section 20.19i1 requires that each certification and report must be up-to-date as of the last day of the calendar month preceding the due date of each certification or report. To ensure that service providers certifications and handset manufacturers reports meet this requirement, the Commission moves the service provider certification due date from January 15 to January 31
each year and the handset manufacturer report due date from July 15 to July 31
each year. If January 31 or July 31 fall on a weekend, the due date for the certification or report will be the first business day immediately following the weekend. These revised filing deadlines mean that the filing window for service providers will open the first business day in January and the filing window for manufacturers will open the first business day in July. This change will ensure that the certifications and reports
PO 00000

Frm 00046

Fmt 4700

Sfmt 4700

are up-to-date as of the last day of the calendar month preceding the due date of each report and certification. In addition to moving the compliance filing dates, we also change the compliance filing requirement for manufacturers to read that they shall submit Form 655 reports on compliance with the requirements of this section . . . . Currently, this requirement reads that they shall submit Form 655
reports on efforts toward compliance with the requirements of this section . . . . 47 CFR 20.19i1 emphasis added. This change matches the language used for service providers and the efforts toward compliance language is unnecessary in that reports on compliance necessarily includes efforts toward compliance. This change also takes into consideration the national holidays at the beginning of January and July. CTIA and Samsung support these changes, and no commenter opposed these revisions.
49. Removal of Outdated Rules. The Commission adopts its proposal to remove from the hearing aid compatibility rules past transition dates and outdated benchmarks, and to correct clerical errors in the rules. These modifications to the hearing aid compatibility provisions will simplify the rules and make them easier to read and understand. CTIA and Samsung support these changes and no commenter opposed these revisions.
50. Section 68.300. The Commission also adopts its proposal to make a technical correction to 68.300 of the Commissions rules that addresses hearing aid-compatible labeling requirements for wireline telephones.
This correction restores a definition that was erroneously deleted from prior versions of the rule. No one filed comments on this proposed correction.
When the Commission amended part 68
of the rules in 2000 to remove various provisions pertaining to registration of terminal equipment connected to the public switched telephone network, it appears that a definition of the term permanently affixed, which is relevant to the labeling requirement, was inadvertently deleted. To address this technical error, the Commission amends 68.300b to include the same definition currently provided in 68.502a for permanently fixed.
51. Permanently affixed means that the label is etched, engraved, stamped, silkscreened, indelibly printed, or otherwise permanently marked on a permanently attached part of the equipment or on a nameplate of metal, plastic, or other material fastened to the equipment by welding, riveting, or a permanent adhesive. The label must be
E:FRFM04MYR1.SGM

04MYR1