Federal Communications Commission	DA 18-1236



Before the
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20554

In the Matter of

Requests for Waiver of the Hearing Aid Compatibility Volume Control Reset Rules

Ultratec, Inc.

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CG Docket No. 18-307


ORDER

Adopted:  December 7, 2018	Released:  December 7, 2018

By the Chief, Disability Rights Office, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau:

1. In this Order, the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) grants a waiver to Ultratec, Inc. (Ultratec) of the hearing aid compatibility (HAC) volume control reset requirements contained in section 68.317 of the Commission’s rules. 47 CFR § 68.317(g)-(h); see Letter from Kevin Colwell, Vice President of Engineering, Ultratec, Inc., to Suzanne Singleton, Chief, Disability Rights Office, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, FCC (Nov. 16, 2018) (Ultratec Waiver Request).
  Under section 68.317, wireline telephones are permitted to provide amplification to a level greater than the maximum specified in the applicable rule, but must automatically reset to a lower volume after the telephones are hung up. 47 CFR § 68.317(g)-(h); see Access to Telecommunications Equipment and Services by Persons with Disabilities; Amendment of the Commission’s Rules Governing Hearing Aid-Compatible Mobile Handsets; Comment Sought on 2010 Review of Hearing Aid Compatibility Regulations, Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration, 32 FCC Rcd 9063, 9066-70, paras. 7-15 (2017) (2017 HAC Order) (amending section 68.317 to incorporate a revised volume control standard and a new volume control reset requirement).
  Pursuant to the Commission’s streamlined waiver process, See Tandy Corporation, Walker Equipment Company, Ameriphone, Inc., and Ultratec, Inc., Request for Waiver of Volume Control Reset, 47 C.F.R. § 68.317(f), NSD-L-00-17 et al., Memorandum Opinion and Order, 16 FCC Rcd 5253, 5258, para. 15 (CCB 2001) (Tandy Corporation Waiver Order); Requests for Waiver of Volume Control Reset Rules, ClearCaptions, LLC, CG Docket No. 18-307, Order, DA 18-1197, at 3-4 (CGB Nov. 27, 2018) (ClearCaptions Waiver Order) (providing and applying a modified streamlined waiver process); Notice of New Docket and Filing Procedures for Requesting Waiver of Wireline Hearing Aid Compatibility Volume Control Reset Rules, CG Docket No. 18-307, Public Notice, DA 18-1196, at 2-3 (CGB Nov. 27, 2018) (Volume Control Reset Waiver Public Notice) (providing a new docket number and updating the procedure for requesting a streamlined waiver).
 Ultratec seeks a waiver of the volume control reset provisions for its Captel Phone Models 840i, 840Plus, 880i, 880iB, 2400i and 2400iBT (Six Captel Phones) that will “include a volume control override mechanism so that persons with hearing loss can set a default volume and thereby avoid having to increase the volume to their preferred level each time they use the phone.” Ultratec Waiver Request at 2.
  Ultratec explains that its Six Captel Phones support both public switched telephone network (PSTN) and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services. Letter from Kevin Colwell, Vice President of Engineering, Ultratec, Inc., to Marlene Dortch, Secretary, FCC, CG Docket No. 18-307, at 1 (Nov. 28, 2018) (Ultratec Supplemental Letter).  
 
2. Background.  Section 68.317 governs the provision of volume control on wireline telephones used with the PSTN and telephonic equipment used with advanced communications services (ACS telephonic CPE). ACS telephonic CPE is defined as customer premises equipment (CPE) used with advanced communications services (ACS) “that is designed to provide 2-way voice communications via a built-in speaker intended to be held to the ear in a manner functionally equivalent to a telephone, except for mobile handsets.”  47 CFR § 68.3.  ACS telephonic CPE includes, but is not limited to, CPE used with VoIP services.  The compliance date for the provisions of section 68.317 that specify requirements for ACS telephonic CPE is February 28, 2020.  47 CFR § 68.2(a).
  Prior to 2017, this rule addressed only PSTN telephones and specified a range of amplification levels based on receive gain as measured in terms of Receive Objective Loudness Rating (ROLR). 47 CFR § 68.317(b)-(g) (setting forth the volume control standards that were applicable before 2017).  ROLR is the “‘ratio in dB of the voltage entering a loop and telephone to the sound pressure produced by the telephone’s receiver.’”  2017 HAC Order, 32 FCC Rcd at 9067 n.24 (citation omitted).
  Under the standards in place before the 2017 amendments, telephones may exceed 18 decibels (dB) of receive gain (when measured in terms of ROLR) provided that the amplification level automatically resets to nominal gain when the telephone is hung up. 47 CFR § 68.317(g) (requiring reset to nominal gain “when the telephone is caused to pass through a proper on-hook transition”).  In 2017, this provision, previously section 68.317(f), was renumbered as section 68.317(g).  2017 HAC Order, 32 FCC Rcd at 9094, App. B.
  This reset requirement, in section 68.317(g), is designed to help minimize the likelihood of harm to individuals with normal hearing who may use the telephone after someone else has increased the volume beyond a certain level.  However, because some consumers with hearing loss regularly require amplification above the maximum allowed level, the Commission’s Common Carrier Bureau in 2001 adopted a streamlined waiver process for handling requests for waiver of this reset requirement, to allow Part 68 registration of telephones specifically designed to meet such consumers’ needs. Tandy Corporation Waiver Order, 16 FCC Rcd at 5254, 5257-58, paras. 3-4, 13-15.
  
3. In 2017, the Commission amended the rule by inserting a new section 68.317(h).  The new provision incorporates a revised volume control standard, which applies both to telephones connected to the PSTN and to the newly defined category of wireline ACS telephonic CPE, with a compliance deadline of February 28, 2020, for the amended rule. 2017 HAC Order, 32 FCC Rcd at 9066-70, 9094, paras. 7-15, App. B.
  Telephones connected to the PSTN that are manufactured, or imported for use, in the United States before February 28, 2020, must comply with either the volume control standard incorporated in section 68.317(b)-(g), or the revised standard incorporated in section 68.317(h). See 47 CFR § 68.317(a)(1).
  If manufactured or imported for use in the United States on or after February 28, 2020, PSTN telephones and wireline ACS telephonic CPE must comply with the revised volume control standard in section 68.317(h) only; i.e., section 68.317(b)-(g) will no longer be available as an alternative method of compliance. 47 CFR §§ 68.2(a), 68.317(a)(2).

4. The revised volume control standard uses a different unit of measurement called “Conversational Gain.”  Like the pre-2017 standard, however, the revised standard allows the receive amplification for a wireline telephone to exceed the specified maximum amplification level (24 dB Conversational Gain) provided that the amplification level automatically resets to a lower level (no more than 24 dB Conversational Gain) after the telephone is hung up. 47 CFR § 68.317(h).
 
5. Application of the Streamlined Waiver Process.  The streamlined waiver process described in the 2001 Tandy Corporation Waiver Order is applicable to requests for waiver of the revised volume control standard as well as the pre-2017 standard, and now includes both PSTN telephones and ACS telephonic CPE. ClearCaptions Waiver Order, para. 6; Volume Control Reset Waiver Public Notice at 2-3.
  
6.  Petitioners that satisfy five safety conditions identified in the ClearCaptions Waiver Order (and the Volume Control Reset Waiver Public Notice) will ordinarily receive the grant of a waiver.  Those conditions are as follows:  
(1) The volume reset override switch shall be labeled as such and located on the PSTN telephone or ACS telephonic CPE in such a way as not to be accessible to accidental engagement. 
(2) A bright indicator light shall be prominently displayed on the front of the PSTN telephone or ACS telephonic CPE and shall light up when the override is engaged and the telephone is placed in an off-hook condition. 
(3) Next to the light shall be a warning that the amplification is at a high level.
(4) A caution on the use of the volume reset override switch shall be included in the users’ manual. 
(5) The PSTN telephone or ACS telephonic CPE shall include a warning printed in Braille that can be securely attached to the back of the handset, or, if the telephone has only a headset, above the dial buttons, to indicate that a high-volume setting may be engaged. ClearCaptions Waiver Order, para. 6; Volume Control Reset Waiver Public Notice at 2-3.
  
7. A party may request a volume control reset waiver for a device by certifying as to its compliance with these five safety conditions above, and by having the request signed “by a company representative or officer responsible for its truthfulness.” ClearCaptions Waiver Order, para. 7; Volume Control Reset Waiver Public Notice at 3.
  “If the request is in order and if no other issues are present that preclude a grant, the [Commission] will issue an order granting the waiver request.” Tandy Corporation Waiver Order, 16 FCC Rcd at 5258, para. 15.
  The party receiving such a waiver may then pursue equipment approval under the applicable Part 68 rules. Id.
  
8. Discussion.  We grant a waiver of the volume control reset requirements in sections 68.317(g) and (h) to Ultratec for the Six Captel Phones—in their dual roles as wireline telephones connected to the PSTN and wireline ACS telephonic CPE—because we find that Ultratec has properly certified compliance with the streamlined waiver conditions of the Tandy Corporation Waiver Order, as modified by the ClearCaptions Waiver Order (and the Volume Control Reset Waiver Public Notice). Ultratec Supplemental Letter at 1 (clarifying that it seeks a waiver of both sections 68.317(g) and 68.317(h)); Ultratec Waiver Request at 2.  
  Grant of the combined waiver will afford persons with hearing loss the option of using their telephones without the need to turn the volume back up each time they use the phone. Ultratec Waiver Request at 2.
  Ultratec may therefore proceed to request certification from a Telecommunications Certification Body or to submit a Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity pursuant to Part 68 of the Commission’s rules. See 47 CFR § 68.201.

9. We condition the grant of this waiver on the following requirements for each of the Six Captel Phones:  (1) the volume reset override switch shall be labeled as such and located on the phone in such a way as to not be accessible to accidental engagement; (2) a bright indicator light shall be prominently displayed on the front of the phone and shall light up when the override is engaged and the phone is placed in an off-hook condition; (3) next to the light shall be a warning that the amplification is at a high level; (4) a caution on the use of the volume reset override switch shall be included in the users’ manual; and (5) the phone shall include a warning printed in Braille that can be securely attached to the back of the handset, or, if the phone has only a headset, above the dial buttons, to indicate that a high-volume setting may be engaged.
10. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to authority delegated in sections 0.141, 0.361 and 1.3 of the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR §§ 0.141, 0.361, 1.3, the request for waiver of the volume control reset requirements of sections 68.317(g) and 68.317(h) for Captel Phone Models 840i, 840Plus, 880i, 880iB, 2400i and 2400iBT filed by Ultratec, Inc., IS GRANTED to the extent described herein. 
11. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this Order SHALL BE EFFECTIVE upon release.
12. To request materials in accessible formats (i.e., Braille, large print, electronic files, or audio format), send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov, or call the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (844) 432-2275 (videophone), or (202) 418-0432 (TTY).  This Order can also be downloaded by accessing the Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) at https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs and specifying the Proceeding as 18-307 (corresponding to CG Docket No. 18-307).

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION




Suzy Rosen Singleton
Chief, Disability Rights Office
Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau
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