Upcoming HAC Deadlines

This is a reminder of several upcoming hearing aid compatibility deadlines.

Annual HAC Certification (Form 855): due January 31, 2023

Wireless service providers are required to submit their annual hearing aid compatibility (“HAC”) certification for the 2022 calendar year by midnight EDT on Tuesday, January 31, 2023.  The filing window is now open.

The Commission’s HAC rules require wireless service providers to offer hearing-aid compatible handset models to consumers and to provide information regarding the compatibility capabilities of their handset models to consumers and the Commission.  All wireless service providers, including de mimimis providers, must annually certify whether they have been in full compliance with the Commission’s HAC requirements throughout the prior calendar year by filing FCC Form 855.

Certifications must be submitted via the electronic interface for the FCC Form 855 and should include the following information:

  1. The name of the signing executive and their contact information;
  2. The company(ies) covered by the certification;
  3. The FCC FRN;
  4. The website address of the page containing the required handset model information (for non-de minimis service providers); and
  5. The percentage of handsets offered that are HAC compatible. Providers will derive this percentage by determining the number of hearing-aid compatible handsets offered across all air interfaces during the year divided by the total number of handsets offered during the year.

Instructions for the Form 855 can be accessed here.

Updates to Non-Tier I HAC Deployment Benchmarks: April 3, 2023

As a reminder, the hearing aid compatibility deployment benchmark for non-Tier I providers will increase from 66% to 85% on April 3, 2023.  By that date, non-Tier I providers must ensure that at least 85% of the handset models they offer are hearing aid-compatible pursuant to the FCC’s rules, calculated based upon the total number of unique handset models the carrier offers.  (See September 2021 Public Notice).

2019 ANSI Standards: June 5, 2023

Note that, beginning June 5, 2023, handset manufacturers will be required to meet the 2019 ANSI standard to receive an equipment certification or make changes to existing certifications.  However, this does not affect the deployment benchmarks noted above.  Providers may meet their deployment benchmarks by counting handset models certified under either the 2019 ANSI Standard or earlier versions of the standard so long as those models are still being offered for sale.  The FCC does anticipate that providers will slowly begin to replace handsets certified under an older standard with those certified under the 2019 ANSI Standard.

Please Contact Us if you have any questions.

Recent Posts