IBiquity Digital downplayed the impact of a decision by the Natio...

plan to delay the standards effort “temporarily” until the AM issue was resolved. The company emphasized the NRSC hadn’t expressed any concerns with IBOC’s “core system architecture or implementation,” including signal coverage, reception or functionality. It said the resolution would constitute a software upgrade and “no other changes to the system will be necessary. As such, we have an ongoing improvement plan and anticipate resolution of the AM audio quality issue as soon as possible.” The NRSC had been expected to complete IBOC standards work by early 2003. Ibiquity CEO Robert Struble said AM audio quality concerns amounted to “one very small piece of an overall system.” Struble said AM audio quality concerns were nothing new and were unrelated to the nighttime interference problems that persuaded the NRSC to recommend to the FCC that IBOC AM be approved for daytime use only, pending additional tests: “We're being challenged with the system’s low bit rates to deliver audio quality that the broadcasters find to be a significant upgrade over what they've got now.” Because the required improvements would entail only a software upgrade, Struble said, the NRSC action wouldn’t affect rollout of IBOC transmission equipment or receivers or endanger FCC approval. The serious concerns about AM audio quality were sparked by recent private demonstrations for NRSC DAB Subcommittee members at NPR studios in Washington, where it was found iBiquity’s 36-kbps PAC compression technology was not “suitable for broadcast,” according to a memo we obtained. The memo from NRSC subcommittee Chmn. Milford Smith of Greater Media informed members the NRSC was suspending IBOC standards-setting until AM audio problems can be resolved. The NRSC’s original evaluations and “subsequent positive recommendations” of AM and FM IBOC were based on an algorithm different than that now being used in iBiquity system, the memo said. iBiquity “has chosen to move forward” with a 36-kbps PAC codec that drew the ire of members at the NPR demonstrations, the memo said. Smith, speaking as chmn. of NRSC DAB subcommittee, said a majority is “of the opinion that before we can go forward and say we have an AM audio solution it does need to improve over where it is now.” But, speaking as a broadcaster, Smith said “we're all very enthusiastic about in-band on-channel. It is a wonderful system, there’s just a portion of it that has a problem. That problem needs to be rectified, and then I think we're going to have the solution we've been looking for all these years.”