FCC Targets HAC Reconsideration, Spectrum Act Compliance For June Meeting
The FCC is expected at its June 9 meeting to act on petitions seeking reconsideration of the Commission’s Hearing Aid Compatibility (HAC) order, according to sources. It’s also expected to launch an NPRM seeking comment on how the FCC should change its competitive bidding rules to comply with the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act.
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A vote is expected on a reconsideration order addressing 4 petitions to reconsider the HAC order. The petitions were filed by CTIA, Verizon Wireless, Rural Telecom Group (RTG) and several TDMA carriers, and Research In Motion (RIM). The FCC last year required wireless digital phones to be HAC-compliant, adopting the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) C63.19 technical measurement standard for measuring and rating wireless devices’ compatibility. It also imposed labeling, reporting and testing requirements on carriers and manufacturers and set compliance deadlines.
CTIA asked the Commission to: (1) Adopt more consumer-friendly labeling requirements. (2) Clarify plans to address confidential information submitted in quarterly carrier compliance reports. (3) Reconsider a requirement that carriers offer in-store live testing of HAC-compliant handsets. (4) Clarify whether the “de minimis” exception applies to a supplier’s or carrier’s total activity or on an air-interface specific basis. (5) Reconsider a requirement that carriers offer 2 HAC- compliant handset models or 25% of their handsets, whichever is greater, by Sept. 2005, and a requirement that 50% of handset models be HAC-compliance by Feb. 18, 2008.
Verizon Wireless asked the Commission to: (1) Remove additional requirements imposed on national wireless carriers, but not others, and make HAC rules consistent for all covered carriers. (2) Remove a section authorizing state commissions to adopt the FCC rules and create their own separate enforcement procedures and remedies. RTG and TDMA carriers asked that the Commission tie HAC obligations to the actual availability of HAC handsets. RIM asked the FCC to clarify that the de minimis exception of the rules applies on a per-air interface basis.
The FCC wants to resolve the issues raised in the petitions so industry can meet a Sept. deadline for carriers to offer 2 HAC-compliant handset models or 25% of their handsets, whichever is greater, an FCC source said. “We are just trying to clean up the docket and get everyone some certainty on this,” the source said. The source didn’t say which petitions are expected to be granted: “That’s something that we need to get a consensus on the floor on… We are going to grant some and not grant others.”
The FCC also is expected to seek industry input on how to change its auction rules to comply with the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act, signed in Dec. by President Bush as part of wider HR-5419 legislation creating spectrum relocation trust fund. The fund guarantees that Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) auction revenue can be used to move Defense Dept. and other govt. users off the 1710-1755 MHz parts of the band. The bill would require all auctions to raise at least 110% of estimated relocation costs.
“Right now, our rules for setting reserve prices aren’t based on meeting a particular revenue goal,” the FCC source said: “We are going to ask questions about how we are going to comply with the Act and change our auction rules to make sure we get this 110%.”