FCC Seen Taking on ‘Tough’ DTV Tuner Enforcement
The FCC will likely start strict enforcement of its DTV tuner requirement after dismissing the CE industry’s petition to eliminate the July 1, 2005, deadline for DTV tuners in 50% of new 25-36” sets (CD June 3 p7), several industry sources said. But it’s unclear how the FCC will force manufacturers to meet the deadline. “Conceivably they can use their field agents that are all over the country. This is going to be tough enforcement,” a broadcaster said.
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The CE industry is trying to dump all analog sets into the market for the upcoming holiday and Super Bowl season, when many sets are sold, the broadcaster said. “That’s why they have been pushing for a later deadline,” the broadcaster said. CE has denied such broadcast industry claims, saying leaving the schedule unchanged on 25-36” sets would put those with built-in ATSC tuners at a disadvantage to those that don’t. Accepting the CE industry petition would speed the DTV transition, not impede it, CE has said. CE wants to advance by 4 months, to March 1, 2006, a deadline by which all such sets must have ATSC tuning.
Asked to react to widespread speculation Fri. that the FCC would likely decide against CE’s tuner mandate petition, CEA Pres. Gary Shapiro told us his group has “heard almost every possible scenario” about how the Commission might rule. “Time will tell,” Shapiro said. Michael Petricone, CEA vp-technology policy, told us his group knows tuner mandates are on the agenda for this week’s FCC meeting, but “we don’t know what they're going to do, and only hope that they do the right thing.”
Dell, which supports the CE industry petition as speeding the DTV transition -- not slow it as broadcasters have alleged -- has proposed several fallback positions if the Commission doesn’t agree. Dell said in an ex parte filing that it asked advisers to Comr. Adelstein in meetings last week to consider advancing the July 2006 100% tuner mandate on 25-36” sets and delaying the July 2005 50% requirement each by 3-4 months.
Dell also asked the Commission staff to enforce the July 2005 deadline in an unusual way: Asking “responsible parties” to demonstrate by next June that at least 50% of their 25-36” sets complied with the July 2005 date. It didn’t define “responsible parties,” but said verification would take the form of import and manufacturing reports to be submitted to the Commission. To our knowledge CE makers aren’t now required to submit shipment reports as verification of compliance.
Also at the agenda meeting, the FCC is expected to move up the deadline on 13” and larger sets to July 1, 2006, a source said. That would match the date -- opposed by CE -- in draft DTV legislation in the House Commerce Committee (CED May 23 p1). But the FCC, in launching the rulemaking on CE’s petition, originally said it had no intention of changing the existing July 2007 date on all remaining sets. Shapiro has said that deadline should be left as is, so as not to hurt severely the market for 13” sets.