FCC Shouldn't Impose Tech Mandate on ATSC 3.0, O'Rielly Says

The FCC should refrain from imposing "tech mandates" on the proposed transition to ATSC 3.0 and facilitate "permissionless innovation" for broadcasters, Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said Wednesday at the ATSC Broadcast Television Conference. Along with O'Rielly's keynote, the event had panels on the new standard's chances at the FCC and on the post-incentive auction repacking effort.

Though O'Rielly said there's still time to combine an ATSC 3.0 transition with the repacking, he also said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler repeatedly rejected suggestions that the repacking or auction be delayed. "A lot of things need to happen" before both the new standard and the repacking plan are complete, O'Rielly said.

The FCC should use the opportunity of ATSC 3.0 to clear out "dead weight" rules that slow innovation in broadcasting, O'Rielly said. ATSC 3.0's lack of backward compatibility creates a difficult challenge for the new standard that should be addressed by industry rather than through regulation, he said. Since approval of the new standard likely will take place under a post-election FCC, broadcasters must be careful not to "muddy the waters" by allowing personal or political agendas to influence the transition, he said. Which company holds patents on what equipment -- what O'Rielly called "patent politics" -- shouldn't drive the process, he said.

O'Rielly said he doesn't know how other commissioners feel about the ATSC 3.0 petition, but NAB General Counsel Rick Kaplan said on an earlier panel he doesn't expect much opposition to the plan. The agency's quick action in putting the petition out for comment is "a good sign" Kaplan said, though he said he expects many questions from the other industries broadcasters deal with.

Approving the new standard is in the public interest, said America's Public Television Stations General Counsel Lonna Thompson. The FCC should consider that the U.S. marketplace isn't the only one contemplating a transition to the new standard, she said.

Sinclair has a warehouse with more than 70 ATSC 3.0 transmitters ready to be installed when the petition is approved, said Sinclair Vice President-Advanced Technology Mark Aitken. Sinclair also already has simulcast agreements in place in markets where it has only one station, Aitken said. Where Sinclair has multiple stations, one station will multicast the current standard, while the others make the transition, he said. Current technology should allow the simulcast DTV channels to continue to be broadcast in high definition, Aitken said. On the consumer side, CTA Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Julie Kearney said she expects consumer electronics manufacturers to begin offering ATSC 3.0-capable TVs with dual-standard tuners that can also receive ATSC 1.0.

Wireless and broadcast industry panelists said they supported a "regionalized" repacking plan. Such a plan is a "logical " way to deal with limited repacking resources, said Cox Media Group Vice President-Technical Operations Dave Siegler. Cox expects to have 11 stations repacked based on the FCC's 126 MHz clearing target, Siegler said. The "daisy chain" effect, where one broadcaster can't be repacked until other broadcasters are relocated, is expected to complicate a regional repacking, said AT&T Vice President-Federal Regulatory Joan Marsh, though she said AT&T also supports a regional repacking.

The daisy chain could be especially complicated along the Canadian and Mexican borders, Marsh said. Neither country has a repacking timeline yet, and if they don't repack along with the U.S., interference repercussions are likely for stations along the borders, she said. Marsh repeatedly said the FCC should hold a repacking summit or workshop involving all stakeholders to facilitate a smooth repacking. Commissioner Ajit Pai endorsed such a summit at NAB 2016.

ATSC 3.0 and its accompanying Advanced Warning and Response Network will improve the functionality of EAS systems, said Wade Witmer, deputy director of IPAWS. Because AWARN will allow more information and more specific information to be sent to more consumer devices, it will lead to a better public response to emergency warnings, Witmer said. Broadcasters should keep an eye on FCC efforts to improve the current EAS system, said AWARN Alliance Executive Director John Lawson. Though an open NPRM on improving EAS technology presents an opportunity for the new standard, additional requirements for EAS infrastructure placed on broadcasters could complicate the transition, he said.