WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday launched a rulemaking to consider making mobile phones hearing-aid compatible. The action, prompted by a petition filed last year by a group of hearing disability groups, is a major setback for industry.
Wireless carriers and manufacturers had urged the agency not to revisit the issue, which first came to its attention in 1995. FCC rules currently exempt mobile phones from a 1988 law requiring hearing-aid compatibility, but the statute calls for the commission to periodically review exemptions.
