CEA petitions FCC for expedited digital tuner requirement

[Gregg Lengling]

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and the Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition (CERC) have urged the FCC to accelerate the timetable for the digital television (DTV) tuner mandate.

Pointing to the unintended consequences of the 50 percent requirement, the CEA and CERC requested that the 100 percent deadline for DTV tuners in television screen sizes 25- to 36in be accelerated to March 1, 2006.

The current DTV tuner mandate timetable calls for 50 percent of the TV receivers in the 25- to 36in screen size range to have a digital tuner by July 1, 2005. The organizations are petitioning to exchange the 50 percent requirement for advancing the 100 percent requirement in this size category up from July 1, 2006 to March 1, 2006.

The two trade groups argue the modification would expedite the planning for and implementation of 100 percent incorporation of DTV tuners, in providing for a clear date for universal reliance on the DTV technology and components.

For more information, visit //www.ce.org and //www.ceretailers.org.