WASHINGTON-In five years, cellular carriers will no longer be required to reserve a portion of their spectrum for analog users as long as digital mobile phones become compatible with hearing aids.
The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday sunsetted the requirement that all cellular carriers use the AMPS standard but cautioned that if progress is not made toward making digital mobile phones compatible with hearing aids it could decide to keep the analog set aside in place.
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 requires the FCC to every two years review its rules to see if any are outdated. The agency proposed in 2001 that the analog set aside was an outdated rule.
