NOTICE FOR CONSUMERS WITH HEARING DISABILITIES
Digital Wireless Phones to be Compatible with Hearing Aids
On July 10, 2003, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
modified the exemption for wireless phones under the Hearing Aid
Compatibility Act of 1988. This means that wireless phone manufacturers
and service providers must make digital wireless phones accessible
to individuals who use hearing aids.
For more information, please go to FCC’s
Consumer Alert on accessibility of digital wireless phones
Wireless telephones are hand-held phones with built-in antennas,
often called cell, mobile, or PCS phones. These phones are popular
with callers because they can be carried easily from place to place.
Wireless telephones are two-way radios. When you talk into a wireless
telephone, it picks up your voice and converts the sound to radiofrequency
energy (or radio waves). The radio waves travel through the air
until they reach a receiver at a nearby base station. The base station
then sends your call through the telephone network until it reaches
the person you are calling.
When you receive a call on your wireless telephone, the message
travels through the telephone network until it reaches a base station
close to your wireless phone. Then the base station sends out radio
waves that are detected by a receiver in your telephone, where the
signals are changed back into the sound of a voice.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) each regulate wireless telephones. FCC ensures
that all wireless phones sold in the United States follow safety
guidelines that limit radiofrequency (RF) energy. FDA monitors the
health effects of wireless telephones. Each agency has the authority
to take action if a wireless phone produces hazardous levels of
RF energy.
FDA derives its authority to regulate wireless telephones from
the Radiation Control provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and
Cosmetic Act (originally enacted as the Radiation Control for Health
and Safety Act of 1968). [http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/comp/eprc.html].
FCC derives its authority to regulate wireless telephones from
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and the Telecommunications
Act of 1996 [http://www.fcc.gov/telecom.html].
Updated 7/16/2003
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