On October 26, 2010, the Federal Communications Commission‘s (“FCC” or “Commission”) Enforcement Bureau (“Bureau” or “EB”) issued Notices of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (“NALs”) against IDT Telecom, Inc. (“IDT”), Total Call Mobile, Inc. (“Total Call”), MGA Entertainment, Inc. (“MGA”) and cBeyond Communications, LLC (“cBeyond”) for violations of the FCC‘s hearing aid compatibility (“HAC”) rules. The HAC rules require, among other things, that all wireless handset providers, including resellers, offer a certain number of hearing aid compatible handsets and make available to consumers via labeling on the handset and handset box and in website disclosures, information about the performance ratings of the handsets. The rules also require providers to report to the FCC annually on their compliance with these requirements.
In each of the NALs, the EB found that the offending company had failed to comply with the reporting and/or website posting requirements of the HAC rules and imposed a forfeiture ($12,000 in the case of IDT, Total Call Mobile and cBeyond and $6,000 for MGA Entertainment).
These NALs represent yet another example of the Bureau‘s increased enforcement against companies that fail to comply with the FCC‘s HAC requirements. To the extent clients have not yet implemented the HAC requirements or have not filed HAC compliance reports, we recommend they do so in order to avoid similar action by the EB.
The NALs are available here:
Additional information on the FCC‘s HAC rules can be found here: Hearing Aid Compatibility Information
Clients with questions regarding this Advisory, or who require assistance complying with the FCC‘s HAC rules should contact the Attorney assigned to their accounts.
