FCC AFFIRMS VSB, BEGINS RULEMAKING ON ALL-CHANNEL RECEIVERS

In series of DTV technical decisions, FCC affirmed 8-VSB modulation, started rulemaking on requiring TV sets to have DTV tuner and took several other actions. FCC Chmn. Kennard said decisions would give broadcasters “the clarity and flexibility… to accelerate the buildout of their DTV operations.” He said he was pleased DTV tests “put… to rest” debate over modulation standard. Comr. Ness said FCC actions removed transition uncertainty and it was “time for all industries involved in the digital broadcast food chain to come together and redouble their efforts to achieve a speedy transition.”

Comr. Furchtgott-Roth dissented on all-channel receiver provision, saying: “I have concerns about the government forcing technology on the public rather than letting the marketplace take the lead.” He said govt. manufacturing standards rarely benefited public and questioned whether FCC had authority to impose rule. Comr. Tristani also said “any mandate that increases the cost of TV sets to facilitate the transition… unfairly burdens consumers” and reduces likelihood that less expensive alternatives will be developed.

In other DTV actions, FCC: (1) Set Dec. 31, 2003, date for commercial broadcasters to choose posttransition digital channel, year later for noncommercial. (2) Said broadcasters didn’t have to replicate their entire Grade B service area with their DTV signal, but they would lose interference protection for unserved areas if they didn’t by Dec. 31, 2004, year later for noncommercial. (3) Said commercial stations must provide stronger signal to communities of license by end of 2004, year later for noncommercial. (4) Refused to set performance standards for digital receivers. (5) Set procedures for handling mutually exclusive DTV expansion applications.

In opening rulemaking on DTV reception capability, FCC said it recognized broadcaster concerns that there weren’t enough DTV receivers to make DTV broadcasts financially viable. Rulemaking asks whether all-channel receiver capability actually would help, how best to implement requirement, whether production volumes would bring down receiver prices quickly enough. Commission suggested possibility of first imposing DTV reception requirement on sets 32” or larger, because DTV tuner would be smaller percentage of price, and asked whether requirement should be phased in over time. It also said requirement could be met by separate set-top boxes, and asked whether sets without DTV reception capability should be labeled.

Ness said she was pleased rulemaking only asked questions and drew “no firm conclusions” about FCC’s authority to implement all- channel requirement and its desirability: “We need to weigh very carefully the cost to the consumer of such a requirement, as well as its impact on the digital transition… Today the retail cost of digital receivers is prohibitively expensive for all but the most enthusiastic early adopters [and] many of the sets sold today are incapable of receiving and over-the-air signal.” She said Commission would continue to monitor DTV receiver quality and “take appropriate action on receiver standards as necessary.”