When the FCC in July ordered wireless carriers and handset manufacturers to make digital phones accessible to the nation's 6 million hearing aid users, it was music to the ears of two companies that believe they have just what the industry needs. The order requires wireless carriers to make available at least two compliant handsets for each air interface system, including CDMA, TDMA and GSM, within two years. The compliant handsets must provide both reduced radio frequency interference and telecoil coupling compatibility. (About one-quarter of all hearing aids used in the U.S. have telecoils, which eliminate unwanted ambient noise.) The Vortis antenna, developed by San Francisco-based Myers-Johnson and manufactured by Centurion Wireless Technologies in Lincoln, Neb., addresses the RF interference requirement.
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