Talk on ATSC 3.0 Tuner Mandates in Smartphones Is 'Fake News,' LG Says
“All this talk” about ATSC 3.0 tuner mandates in smartphones is “fake news,” said an LG Electronics USA spokesman of wireless interests weighing in at the FCC since mid-September to fight what they described as broadcasters’ calls for 3.0 tuner…
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mandates in smartphones (see 1709200016). “Broadcasters aren’t seeking mandates.” At LG, “we sure don’t see the need,” he said. LG thinks “market and competitive forces” will lead to “incorporating 3.0 tuners into smartphones on a voluntary basis,” said the representative. Embedding 3.0 reception in smartphones has “technical challenges,” he said. “But when the mobile ATSC 3.0 business opportunities for all the stakeholders -- broadcasters, wireless carriers, manufacturers -- become clearer, the engineers will find ways to make it work, and they’ll make it work well, I’m sure.” On Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel last week slamming 3.0 as a “tax on every household with a television" because consumers will be forced to buy new TVs (see 1710120057), “this is a voluntary, industry-led effort that won’t require set-top boxes. We envision a smooth, but slow ramp-up that’s going to take a number of years for this transition to take place. It’s not going to be like flipping a switch like the last one,” the rep said of the 2009 DTV switch.