STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER JESSICA ROSENWORCEL Re: Amendment of the Commission’s Rules Governing Standards for Hearing Aid- Compatible Handsets; Amendment of the Commission’s Rules Governing Hearing Aid- Compatible Mobile Handsets; Comment Sought on 2010 Review of Hearing Aid Compatibility Regulations, WT Docket No. 20-3, WT Docket No. 07-250 (Terminated), WT Docket No. 10-254 (Terminated), Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (January 30, 2020) Accessibility means equal opportunity to create, participate, and communicate—and promoting accessible technology is a sacred duty this agency has under the law. That is why I am pleased to support today’s rulemaking, which seeks to ensure that our rules regarding hearing-aid compatibility with wireless handsets reflect the most up-to-date standards. Keeping our policies for accessibility current is important. It can lead to greater innovation and make it possible for more technologies to reach more people. On this score, we have work to do to ensure that our wireless 5G future does not leave anyone behind. Note that the standard the agency proposes to adopt here does not cover frequencies above 6 gigahertz. But to date our efforts to push new spectrum into the market in the 5G era have only involved millimeter wave spectrum well above the 6 GHz band. I think it is vital that we understand the impact of these new frequencies on persons with hearing loss and on devices now, and not leave these issues for later. So I am glad we also ask questions about these matters in our rulemaking today. For these reasons, this rulemaking has my support.