Media Bureau Grants Waivers for Honda Acura Rear Entertainment Systems

The Media Bureau granted permanent waivers of FCC user interface accessibility rules for rear entertainment systems in Honda Acura MDXs built for the model years 2017 through 2020, said an order Monday. The bureau last year granted Honda temporary waiver that was to expire in August (see 1710200021), but the company said last July it would be unable to meet that deadline because of technical and bureaucratic complications in giving existing MDX entertainment systems the capability for audio input. “The current Acura MDX rear entertainment system hardware does not have the required speed, memory, and human machine interface to allow for audio feedback and, thus, the hardware would have to be redesigned entirely,” the order said. An investigation by the bureau determined the automaker wouldn’t be able to achieve that redesign until 2020 at a cost of over $11 million, and in that same year, the current generation of MDX vehicles will be replaced with the next version, which is already slated to feature a compliant entertainment system, the order said. “Honda’s waiver is in the public interest because the alternative would be the removal of rear entertainment systems from current generation Acura MDX vehicles when the current waiver expires, which would be detrimental to consumers.”