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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
September 25, 2013 Mark Wigfield, 202-418-0253
Email: mark.wigfield@fcc.gov
FCC SETTLES HEARING AID COMPATIBILITY INVESTIGATION
NTT DOCOMO USA, Inc. Makes Voluntary Payment of $100,000;
Will Implement Robust Compliance Plan
Washington, D.C. - Wireless carrier NTT DOCOMO USA, Inc. has agreed to pay $100,000 to settle an Enforcement Bureau investigation into whether the company complied with FCC rules designed to ensure the availability of hearing aid-compatible phones in the marketplace.
The settlement reached today also requires that NTT DOCOMO USA, Inc. implement a robust and meaningful compliance plan that includes new operating procedures, comprehensive training of employees and agents, and additional reporting requirements.
"Enabling consumers with disabilities to participate fully in the wireless technology revolution is one of our highest priorities," said Acting FCC Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn. "Today's enforcement action underscores our continuing commitment to ensuring that these consumers are not left behind and that they can broadly leverage advanced technologies and utilize the latest wireless devices."
Acting FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Robert H. Ratcliffe added, "We will continue to hold wireless companies and manufacturers accountable, and we urge companies who discover violations to take prompt and meaningful remedial action."
The settlement with NTT DOCOMO USA, Inc. is the latest in a series of hearing aid compatibility enforcement actions taken during 2013, valued at more than $1.4 million. Recent actions include: DOCOMO Pacific, Inc. ($65,000); Kyocera Communications, Inc. ($12,000); Airadigm Communications, Inc. ($260,000); TeleGuam Holdings, LLC and Pulse Mobile, LLC ($280,000); Puerto Rico Telephone Company, Inc. ($650,000); and Cordova Wireless Communications, LLC ($35,000).
To facilitate the Commission's goal of unfettered access to advanced wireless services by persons with disabilities, the Commission's hearing aid compatibility rules, among other things, specify technical standards that digital wireless handsets must meet to ensure compatibility with hearing aids. The rules also establish deadlines by which wireless telecommunications carriers and handset manufacturers are required to offer specified numbers or percentages of hearing aid-compatible digital wireless handsets and to report their progress to the Commission.
The NTT DOCOMO USA, Inc. consent decree is available at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-13-1864A1.pdf. The other referenced hearing aid compatibility enforcement actions are available at http://www.fcc.gov/enforcement-bureau.
-FCC-