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 Federal  Communications  Commission  FCC  03-  168 
 SEPARATE  STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  JONATHAN  S.  ADELSTEIN 
 Re:  Section  68.4(  a)  of  the  Commission’s  Rules  Governing  Hearing  Aid-  Compatible  Telephones;  WT  Docket  No.  01-  309 
 I  am  very  pleased  to  support  today’s  Report  and  Order  because  it  takes  significant  steps  toward  improving  the  access  to  digital  mobile  wireless  phones  by  those  Americans  who  use  hearing  aids. 
 While  the  Hearing  Aid  Compatibility  Act  of  1988  (HAC  Act)  exempted  mobile  wireless  phones  from  hearing  aid  compatibility,  Congress  specifically  entrusted  this  Commission  with  periodically  assessing 
 the  appropriateness  of  continuing  this  exemption.  Today,  we  take  that  obligation  to  heart  and  rightly  modify  the  exemption  as  it  currently  applies  to  digital  mobile  wireless  phones. 


 As  I  said  recently,  public  interest  issues,  especially  the  rights  of  those  with  hearing  impairments,  always  should  remain  in  the  forefront  of  our  decisions.  While  a  staff  member  in  the  U.  S.  Senate,  I  worked  on  the 
 Americans  with  Disabilities  Act  and  devoted  a  great  amount  of  attention  to  the  Social  Security  Disability  Insurance  program.  These  concerns  remain  central  to  me  on  the  Commission,  as  well. 


 I  recognize  that  some  may  argue  that  it  has  taken  the  Commission  too  long  to  reach  the  decision  to  modify  the  exemption  and  that  our  Report  and  Order  does  not  go  far  enough.  Conversely,  others  may 
 take  the  view  that  we  are  exceeding  our  mandate  in  adopting  requirements  to  accommodate  a  relatively  small  number  of  customers.  I  believe  that  our  decision  strikes  the  right  balance  between  these  divergent 
 views.  This  is  consistent  with  the  requirements  of  the  HAC  Act  to  consider  a  number  of  competing  issues  in  assessing  the  exemption  such  as  the  public  interest,  the  effect  of  the  exemption  on  hearing-  impaired 
 individuals,  the  state  of  technology,  and  the  cost  of  compliance. 
 Most  importantly,  as  a  Commission,  we  have  made  a  unanimous  decision  to  greatly  improve  accessibility  to  digital  wireless  telecommunications  by  those  with  hearing  impairments  by  requiring  mobile  wireless 
 carriers  and  manufacturers  to  increase  the  number  of  wireless  phones  that  can  be  used  effectively  with  hearing  aids.  We  also  expressed  our  expectation  that  the  manufacturers  of  hearing  aids  take  specific 
 actions  to  assist  their  customers  in  finding  compatible  hearing  aids  and  digital  wireless  handsets.  We  have  stepped  in  where  the  market  did  not  step  up.  I  can  think  of  no  more  an  appropriate  action  for  a 
 government  agency  to  take  than  the  one  we  do  today. 
 I  would  like  to  thank  the  staff  of  the  Wireless  Telecommunication  Bureau  and  its  Policy  Division  for  their  hard  work  on  an  often  challenging  item.  Our  decision  is  thoughtful  but  firm  in  its  resolve.  I  look  forward 
 to  tracking  the  progress  of  our  decision  and  its  positive  impact  on  the  hearing  impaired  community  over  the  upcoming  years. 
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