Widespread Adoption of Revised HAC Rule Will Take Time: CTIA
CTIA wants to move to a revised volume control standard for hearing-aid compatible (HAC) devices as quickly as possible and agrees with comments filed by HAC advocates that the interim solution “should not ‘becom[e] a long-term substitute rather than a shortterm stopgap,’” said a filing posted Friday in docket 23-388. But steps remain “beyond mere adoption by standard-setting bodies, which warrant extension of the existing waiver,” CTIA said.
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An industry Volume Control Task Group (VCTG) is expected to complete work on a revised volume control technical standard in Q2 of next year, CTIA said. After that standard is complete, the commission “must engage in its own testing and evaluation to ensure that the new standard functions as intended and can and should be broadly implemented,” the group said.
“Because numerous wireless handsets enter the U.S. marketplace in any given year, multiple test labs must have the capacity to test wireless handsets pursuant to the revised standard,” CTIA said. At this point, only one lab is “participating in the VCTG and therefore has the necessary equipment and know-how,” CTIA said. “The workload of testing all U.S.-bound wireless handsets would be expected to overwhelm one lab and create a bottleneck.”
In comments filed in July (see 2507210008), groups representing consumers said any additional waiver must be limited and come with “safeguards and guardrails.” The current waiver expires Sept. 29.