The FCC Hearing Aid Compatibility Task Force recommended what the group says is a path to 100% compatibility for wireless handsets. The group started work in 2020 (see 2002070027). “Consumer advocates and industry representatives worked hand-in-hand for years to offer the FCC a path forward to 100% handset compatibility, per our charter,” said James Craig, task force chair and manager-accessibility standards at Apple, Friday. “We are confident that the recommendations outlined in this report will help ensure the best outcome for all Americans, especially those with hearing loss who rely on this technology," Craig said. Industry groups also applauded the report. “Wireless offers opportunity and connectivity to Americans of all abilities, needs and situations,” said CTIA President Meredith Baker: “This report is the result of years of strong collaboration between the accessibility community and the wireless industry that promotes innovation, reflects marketplace developments and will benefit consumers with hearing loss.” Groups participating include the Competitive Carriers Association, CTIA, the Hearing Loss Association of America, the National Association of the Deaf, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and the Telecommunications Industry Association. The report recommends a revised definition of HAC to say a compatible handset “(a) has an internal means for compatibility (b) that meets established technical standards for hearing aid coupling or compatibility, and (c) is usable.” The FCC should also “consider, along with a more flexible definition of HAC, factors such as ease-of-use, reliability, industry adoption, and consumer use and adoption when evaluating what technical standards meet the above proposed HAC definition,” the report said. For the short-term, the task force recommends “a limited, interim waiver of current transition to the 2019 ANSI Standard that allows wireless handsets to meet a modified volume control test that ensures increased amplification for hearing device users until the TIA 5050 standard has been revised and adopted into the FCC’s rules.” It asks the commission to “adjust the deployment benchmarks for manufacturers (four years from the effective date of an FCC order based on this report) and for service providers (five years from the effective date of an FCC order).” The FCC should also “incorporate” into its rules “an adjusted volume control testing method that accomplishes the goal of increased amplification (i.e., need articulated by user advocates) with an updated testing methodology that better reflects modern wireless handset technologies and operation.”

The FCC Public Safety Bureau directed entities subject to emergency alert system rules to submit their annual form one filings for calendar year 2022 in the online EAS test reporting system no later than Feb. 28. The FCC said Thursday it plans to open the reporting window Jan. 3.

Eutelsat CEO Eva Berneke met with FCC commissioners about terrestrial use of C-band spectrum (see 2212140057).

Demonstrating or creating public disturbances in the public areas of the Prettyman Courthouse and Bryant Annex are cause for removal from the courthouse and can result in contempt sanctions and/or being barred from entering the courthouse in the future, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said Tuesday, announcing a courthouse decorum policy.

The FCC announced Wednesday that its Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council meeting Thursday will no longer be hybrid, and will be fully remote. The FCC said it made the change in response to the National Weather Service’s ice storm warning in effect for the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area throughout Thursday. The meeting starts at 1 p.m. EST.

Cost of internet service in the U.S. in November was up 1.4% year over year, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index unadjusted data released Tuesday. Residential phone service costs were up 4.4% year over year, and wireless service costs were up 1%. Cable and satellite TV service costs were up 1%. November prices overall were up 7.1% year over year before seasonal adjustment, BLS said.

Extend by 60 days the Jan. 13 deadline for challenges to the FCC’s national broadband map, said Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar (R) in a Tuesday letter to the FCC and NTIA. Hegar sought to extend the challenge deadline until March 14 and to postpone the final map’s release until July 14. Broadband, equity, access and deployment program (BEAD) allocation announcements should also be extended by 60 days, he said. Align BEAD award announcements with final maps' release, he added. “States and stakeholders need additional time to submit challenges to the proposed national map to provide critical, accurate information on the availability of broadband in their communities,” Hegar said. “This will ensure every dollar is fairly allocated using the most reliable data.” The FCC map is flawed, the Texas official said. “Some of the responsibility lies with the service providers who are overstating the coverage they provide in their territories. This practice has become so routine that we often don’t notice it, but it will substantially limit competition as well as our ability to accurately allocate resources to those Texans whose access is inadequate. Some of the responsibility lies with our federal partners who have assumed that public spaces like schools and libraries have access.” Other states including Maine, Pennsylvania and Vermont also sought an extension to challenge the FCC map (see 2212020063).

CTIA clarified its stance on the citizens broadband radio service band, in a letter Monday to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson, noting the group supports CBRS in general, though it’s “premature to expand the experimental CBRS sharing mechanism.” A CTIA study last month argued the CBRS model isn’t a substitute for exclusive-use licensing (see 2211140062). “Some parties have called on the Administration and the FCC to focus future spectrum access on the experimental CBRS sharing framework used in the 3.5 GHz band,” the letter said: “To be clear, the wireless industry is not, as some CBRS proponents claim, arguing that all spectrum must be exclusive-use licensed spectrum. We support innovative uses of spectrum where it is appropriate and makes sense given technical and operational constraints.” CTIA said it “filled a void to act as the certifying body for CBRS devices to help with initial commercialization, and was prepared to act as a sharing database administrator because of an initial lack of interest and options,” the group said. “At the same time, we believe future spectrum policy in the United States should not default to complex spectrum sharing regimes, and the weight of the evidence continues to show that smart domestic spectrum policy should be built upon robust access to exclusive-use, licensed spectrum particularly given the significant deficit today.”

Vermont policymakers urged residents to check addresses on the FCC’s national broadband map and file challenges if they find incorrect information. “Correcting addresses that are incorrectly listed as served at speeds of 25/3 Mbps or greater by a wired or licensed wireless provider could mean millions of additional federal dollars to build out 100/100 Mbps fiber broadband" across the state, the Vermont Community Broadband Board said Thursday. The FCC map “is missing or incorrectly lists the location of over 60,000 broadband-serviceable locations,” said board Executive Director Christine Hallquist. “The map also lists service availability levels far beyond what the state has found through its mapping and what we are hearing about from residents.” Sen. Bernie Sanders (D) said he hopes “my fellow Vermonters will join us in making the FCC National Broadband Map as accurate as possible so that Vermonters in every corner of our state can receive high-speed, reliable broadband.” Vermont residents should “take a few minutes to contact the FCC to make their voices heard,” urged Sen. Patrick Leahy (D): “We all should be concerned the FCC’s new National Broadband Map inaccurately represents our state’s ability to connect with the global economy, which will prevent Vermont from receiving the Federal funds we need to build out affordable broadband networks.” Rep. Peter Welch (D), the state’s senator-elect to replace Leahy next year, said the map “doesn’t reflect what Vermonters know to be true: many folks in our communities don’t have reliable broadband service.” Other states are also raising concerns with the map’s accuracy and some have asked for more time to submit challenges (see 2212080062 and 2212020063). The Michigan High-Speed Internet Office urged residents and businesses to check their address on the FCC map, in an email distributed Friday. “Our office is working to challenge the map too, but it’s important for everyone across the state to know how to view and challenge the map,” wrote Chief Connectivity Officer Eric Frederick. The broadband office “is developing several methodologies that we will use to identify errors and inconsistencies on the map and develop and file bulk challenges to the FCC map,” he said. Challenges to the FCC maps are due Jan. 13.

President Joe Biden signed the Safe Connections Act (HR-7132) Wednesday, the White House said. The measure, which the Senate passed in November (see 2211180079), would let domestic abuse survivors separate a mobile phone line from any shared plan involving their abusers without penalties or other requirements and require the FCC to establish rules that ensure calls and texts to domestic abuse hotlines don’t appear on call logs. The House cleared the bill in July (see 2207280052). The measure’s sponsors praised Biden for signing it. “Giving domestic violence abusers control over their victims’ cell phones is a terrifying reality for many survivors,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. “Right now there is no easy way out for these victims -- they’re trapped in by contracts and hefty fees. Our new law will help survivors get out of these shared plans and help victims stay connected with their families and support networks.” It’s “another important step toward ensuring all victims of domestic violence have the support they need and deserve,” said Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb. “This new law ensures all survivors can remove themselves from shared phone plans without prohibitive costs and requirements, and enroll in the Lifeline Program or the Affordable Connectivity Program to obtain new phones or phone services at discounted prices,” said Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. It's “a meaningful step forward in supporting and protecting individuals who are facing domestic abuse and violence,” said Rep. Annie Kuster, D-N.H.