LG opposes a waiver of the DTV tuner mandate on sets 13’ and smal...
LG opposes a waiver of the DTV tuner mandate on sets 13” and smaller for PDI Communications Systems, a supplier of hospital video systems, LG told the FCC in an ex parte filing. PDI, of Springboro, O., has asked…
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the FCC for clarification of whether its products are covered by the tuner rule taking effect March 1, 2007, and has said it will seek a waiver if the Commission decides the regulation applies. PDI has said it doesn’t make or sell TVs for “general” consumer use, but is “in the niche industry” of supplying video entertainment systems for health care facilities “that require specialized systems meeting demanding safety requirements” (CED Jan 31 p7). But LG said granting PDI a waiver or even a deadline extension “would set a dangerous precedent,” undermining the DTV transition and the FCC’s goal of “maximizing” the number of TV sets with DTV tuners on the market as quickly as possible, it told the Commission. Because LG and other set makers also sell TV receivers to the health care industry, “relieving PDI from the DTV tuner mandate’s requirements would unfairly place LG and those manufacturers who are working diligently to comply with the law at a competitive disadvantage,” LG said.