WASHINGTON-Federal Communications Commission Chairman Reed Hundt said the agency will not halt the licensing of personal communications services systems that use the Global System for Mobile communications standard because “we don’t believe there is a serious risk of interference to hearing aids” from the technology.
However, Hundt, responding to an inquiry from Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Bob Packwood, R-Ore., said the commission will investigate hearing-compatibility issues related to wireless services in an upcoming rulemaking proceeding.
Under current law, wireless devices are exempt from the requirement that all telephones be hearing-aid compatible. Nearly 6 million people wear hearing aids in this country.
GSM is a technology developed in Europe for 800 MHz digital cellular telephony. There are documented cases of disruption (in the form of a buzzing noise) to hearing aids from GSM phones in Europe, but FCC and GSM backers claim similar problems are not likely to occur in the United States because here PCS will operate on a different frequency band (1.8-2.2 GHz) and at lower power levels.
The GSM-hearing aid issue arises as competition intensifies among digital wireless equipment suppliers for a huge PCS market. Several firms plan to build PCS systems based on GSM technology, which is particularly attractive because equipment is available today.
