FCC Media Bureau, OET Working on ATSC 3.0 NPRM, Wheeler Tells Lawmaker

The FCC Media Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology are working on an ATSC 3.0 NPRM, Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a letter to Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas, posted online Monday. Wheeler was responding to a letter from Green expressing the legislator's worry that an NPRM wouldn’t be issued before 2016 is out.

“I am growing concerned that the Commission may delay taking action on this important matter before the end of the calendar year,” Green said. “Given all the benefits to the public, I request that the FCC release a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the Next Generation TV standards as soon as reasonably possible.” Broadcasters and broadcast attorneys have told us that it’s important to get the new standard out soon, to maximize the ability of broadcasters to upgrade their facilities to the new standard as part of the post- incentive auction repacking (see 1610060061). In his letter, Wheeler described the NPRM as “forthcoming.”

Sinclair Broadcast Senior Vice President-Policy Rebecca Hanson told us the letter was encouraging. “We hope that the document will be released later this year,” she emailed. “That timing is essential to getting final rules adopted by the beginning of the repack, which we anticipate will be next spring.” The bureau didn’t comment.

NAB also has been urging the commission to move forward on the NPRM, and CEO Gordon Smith met with bureau Chief Bill Lake Thursday, according to an ex parte filing. “Without prompt Commission action, broadcasters’ ability to invest and innovate will be stifled, while their competitors remain free to develop new products and services.” Earlier this year, Smith also called Wheeler to urge prompt approval of the next-gen TV standard (see 1609070065).

Tests of ATSC 3.0 in Cleveland show that the technology “performs well at High-VHF and provides reception comparable with ATSC 1.0,” according to a NAB filing posted in docket 16-142 Monday. “As broadcasters get more familiarity with the system, improved performance can be expected by the ATSC 3.0 transmission system,” said the filing. “As was the case with ATSC 1.0, generations of technological evolution will lead to greatly improved receiver performance.”

The new standard comes with “considerable technical and logistical challenges, costs, and some risks to the many stakeholders involved,” Wheeler told Green, though he also said ATSC 3.0 has “great” benefits. The NPRM will have to balance between the new features and opportunities of the advanced technology and “ensuring the continuity and quality of broadcast service to all Americans,” Wheeler said. “We seek to support broadcasters' innovation while at the same time ensuring that consumers who are not yet equipped for this change can continue to receive the same level of TV service they have come to expect.”