Executive summary
The issues
The explosive growth of digital mobile communications worldwide is all too apparent and yet a lack of functionality for hearing impaired people, or compatibility between hearing aids and mobile phones renders many of these new products unusable.
The report concentrates on the needs of hard of hearing people who use speech and residual hearing as their main means of communication. This is the largest group of people who are affected by problems in using mobile phones and for whom technical solutions are possible. However the needs of profoundly deaf people who cannot benefit from amplification are of great importance. The well-known problem of using text communication with mobile phones requires further action.
Whilst digital mobile phones and hearing aids (as stand alone devices) are declared to be compliant with all current regulation and legislation, a problem exists when these two devices are used in close proximity to each other i.e. when a hearing aid user wishes to use a digital mobile phone in the same manner as everyone else.
All mobile phones in the UK are now digital. Digital mobile phones can cause severe interference with hearing aids, whereas analogue phones did no previously present a problem. The interference may be extremely annoying, or even so loud that it swamps the call hearing aid users want to hear.
Concerns are therefore prevalent that hearing impaired people may have diminished or no access to the mobile telephone network. A direct consequence of this interference is an inability to access telephone services and in particular the emergency services as well as being able to maintain social contacts.
Most mobile phones do not provide additional audio amplification, inductive coupling or suitable interfaces that are common features of many fixed telephones.
The report identifies the need for a more active participation in this area by both telecommunication service companies and manufacturers of mobile phone equipment. The hearing aid industry has made significant strides forward in increasing the immunity of their products but has not publicised these benefits. Neither industry has come to any agreement on a method that will allow consumers to judge what products work satisfactorily together.
The availability of add on devices has been seen as a panacea for resolving the problems and has resulted in a lack of action by the telecommunications industry and has not allowed the development of a secondary market in such devices.
Recommendations
- Manufacturers and service providers of mobile phones should work together to achieve interoperability between hearing aids and mobile phones and achieve some choice for consumers.
- Manufacturers of hearing aids should make more generally available information on the immunity of hearing aids.
- Manufacturers of mobile phones should standardise on common interfaces for add-on devices for hard of hearing and deaf people.
- Research should be undertaken to evaluate the effects of wearing different types of hearing aid with different mobile phones, as limited work has been undertaken on the subjective aspects of user problems
Standardised methods of measuring and specifying radiation from mobile phones that is relevant to hearing aid interference should be introduced in Europe.
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