Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, D.C
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Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of ) ) IT&E Overseas, Inc. ) ) Section 68.4(a) of the Commission’s Rules ) Governing Hearing Aid Compatible ) Telephones ) WT Docket No. 01-309 ) Request for Temporary Waiver, or ) Temporary Stay, of ) Section 20.19(c)(2)(i) of the Rules ) To: The Commission AMENDMENT TO PETITION FOR TEMPORARY WAIVER OR TEMPORARY STAY By its attorneys and pursuant to Sections 1.3 and 1.925 of the Commission’s Rules, IT&E Overseas, Inc. (“IT&E”) hereby amends its Petition for Temporary Waiver or Temporary Stay filed on September 13, 2006 (“T-Coil Petition”), which sought a one- year temporary waiver or temporary stay of the requirement that IT&E include in its offerings at least two wireless handset models per air interface that comply with Rule Section 20.19(b)(2), and that it make available in each retail store owned or operated by it all of these handset models for customer testing. In particular, after reviewing accessibility information on the Motorola web site which indicated that the model V3i phone was rated M3/T3 for hearing aid compatibility, IT&E acquired a supply of these GSM handsets. See Attachment A. IT&E included the V3i phone in the GSM portion of its 2007 HAC Report and indicated that the device (labeled with FCC ID IHDT56EU1) was M3/T3 rated because the company believed in good faith that the phones it had purchased were identical to those shown on the manufacturer’s web site, and there was no indication from Motorola that different versions of the model V3i were being manufactured, having different capabilities under multiple FCC IDs. Following an inquiry from staff in the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, and the company’s further investigation with the manufacturer, IT&E confirmed that its supply of model V3i phones were not T3-rated, as first thought. Accordingly, because of this confusion created by the handset manufacturer, IT&E requests that the relief sought in its T-Coil Petition be granted, and extended nunc pro tunc until March 15, 2008, with respect to the GSM portion of its Broadband Personal Communications Services (“PCS”) network. In support of IT&E’s request, the following is shown: Background 1. IT&E is the licensee of PCS stations KNLF923 (Frequency Block D – Guam BTA), KNLG849 (Frequency Block D – Northern Mariana Islands BTA), WPOK677 (Frequency Block C – Guam BTA) and WPOK678 (Frequency Block C – Northern Mariana Islands BTA). The company has fewer than 500,000 subscribers, so it is a “Tier III” provider of Commercial Mobile Radio Services (or “CMRS”), as defined in the Commission’s Non-Nationwide Carriers Order (Order to Stay), 17 FCC Rcd. 14841, ¶ 22 (2002). 2. On September 13, 2006, because of a lack of availability to Tier III CMRS carriers of wireless handsets rated T3- or better for hearing aid compatibility, IT&E filed its T-Coil Petition seeking a one-year temporary waiver or temporary stay (i.e., up to and including September 18, 2007) of the requirement that IT&E include in its offerings at least two wireless handset models per air interface that comply with Rule Section 20.19(b)(2). Although the company’s GSM facilities were not yet operational, IT&E included its GSM facilities within the scope of its T-Coil Petition out of an abundance of 2 caution, because it was aware of industry difficulties in achieving T-Coil compatibility with a wide selection of GSM devices.1 3. Several months later, IT&E launched service on its GSM overlay network. In keeping with its regulatory compliance obligations, IT&E took steps to offer at least two (2) GSM devices that had achieved an immunity rating of M3- or better, and at least two (2) GSM devices that had achieved an immunity rating of T3- or better, under the ANSI standard. Based on information made available by the handset manufacturers, IT&E believed it could meet both requirements by selling two handset models: the Nokia 6126h, which Nokia represents as being M3/T3-rated,2 and the Motorola RAZR V3i, which Motorola represents as being M3/T3-rated. In particular, a product summary page from the “Accessibility” section of the Motorola web displays the HAC immunity ratings for the MOTORAZR V3i at http://direct.motorola.com/ens/accessibility/V3i.html (see Attachment A). IT&E ordered a sufficient supply of both types of handsets for each of its retail stores and for customer testing/purchase. Pictures of the Motorola V3i device with FCC ID IHDT56EU1 are provided in Attachment B. 4. In the Company’s HAC Status Report for 2007, IT&E reported that seventeen (17) of the forty-two (42) different CDMA handset models it was offering had received a rating of M3- or better under the ANSI standard, and three (3) had received a rating of T3- or better. On the GSM side, IT&E reported that the Company was selling a total of twelve (12) different GSM handset models. The Company reasonably believed that three (3) devices had received a rating of M3- or better, and that two (2) devices had received a 1 T-Coil Petition at p. 3. 3 rating of T3- or better. IT&E identified each handset it believed to be compliant by manufacturer, model number and FCC ID in an attachment to its HAC Report.3 Of the GSM handsets, these included the Motorola RAZR V3 (FCC ID: IHDT56EU2 – M3 only), the Motorola V3i (FCC ID: IHDT56EU1 – M3/T3) and the Nokia 6126h (FCC ID: PPI-RM126H – M3/T3).4 5. On Monday, December 3, 2007, staff reviewing IT&E’s 2007 HAC Report notified the Company’s FCC counsel of an apparent error in the FCC ID number that IT&E had listed for the Motorola V3i phone. According to FCC’s records, rather than IHDT56EU1, the correct FCC ID for the Motorola V3i with M3/T3 rating was supposed to be IHDT56GW1. Subsequent research by IT&E’s counsel led to the finding that FCC ID IHDT56EU1 corresponds to an earlier Motorola model V3 handset that was M3-rated only, and that the Motorola web site had too broadly described the V3i phone as M3/T3 compliant.5 6. Upon notification of this apparent discrepancy, IT&E immediately reviewed its inventory of Motorola V3i handsets and confirmed with further information from Motorola that its supply of model V3i phones marked with FCC ID IHDT56EU1 are not T3-rated. 2 See Attachment A. A list showing the HAC immunity ratings received by various Nokia wireless handsets – and showing the Nokia 6126h phone is at http://www.nokiaaccessibility.com/hac.html. 3 See 2007 HAC Annual Report of IT&E Overseas, WT Docket No. 01-309 (filed November 16, 2007) (“IT&E 2007 HAC Report”). 4 IT&E notes that it made an inadvertent typographic error in its 2007 HAC Annual Report by omitting the “h” from the model name of the Nokia 6126h type of GSM phone that it is currently offering. However, the FCC ID for this device was reported correctly. IT&E has amended its 2007 HAC Annual Report on December 14, 2007. to specify “6126h” as the model number for the GSM phone it is currently offering under FCC ID No. PPI-RM126H. 5 In addition, neither the box in which the V3i handsets were packaged, nor the user manual contained any information contradicting statements on the web site that the handsets were not M3/T3. 4 7. IT&E has taken immediate steps to remedy this situation by placing an order with its handset supplier for a shipment of Nokia 6085 handsets that its supplier has confirmed are rated T3/M3. However, an extension of the relief sought in its T-Coil Petition until March 31, 2008, is needed because there could be unforeseen delays in the fulfillment and shipment of its order in light of the upcoming Christmas and New Year’s holidays. The Company will notify the FCC upon receipt and verification of the FCC ID and T-Coil compatibility of the replacement handsets, at which time it should have no further need for a waiver of the Commission’s HAC Rules. 8. On December 18, 2007, counsel for IT&E received an email from Ms. Mary Brooner, Global Governmental Affairs, Motorola, Inc., with the following explanation for the two different FCC IDs under which the V3i phone has been manufactured: …When the V3i product first shipped, it shipped under the original V3i FCC ID (IHDT56EU1) which is not HAC compliant under today's rules. At the time it received type approval it was compliant under FCC waiver (it was the 850 MHz waiver in response to a petition by Cingular). Later there was a software push that made the V3i HAC compliant under current requirements. Because of this change, Motorola applied for a new FCC ID (IHDT56GW1). So technically, as you discovered, there are 2 FCC ID's for the V3i product, one ID has HAC compliance currently and the other had HAC compliance under waiver for a temporary period but does not meet HAC requirements.6 In light of Motorola’s acknowledgement that the original V3i with FCC ID IHDT56EU1 is not HAC compliant under today’s rules, IT&E hereby amends its 2007 Annual HAC report, which was amended on December 14, 2007, to delete its reference to the Motorola V3i phone with FCC ID IHDT56EU1 as being M3 rated under the ANSI C63.19 standard. 6 Email correspondence of December 18, 2007 @ 5:15 pm ET from Mary Brooner, Motorola, Inc., to Cary Mitchell of Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy & Prendergast, LLP.