Comark is a DiviCom partner. Scientific-Atlanta buys Cube encoders and has at least one deployment of a Lucent encoder system. Lucent uses IBM encoders, and needs a single chip from them by September. Oh my, it looks like these things will sell.............................................
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FCC Finalizes DTV Allotments, But Deployment Issues Remain
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Excited about DTV possibilities or not, broadcasters can begin replicating their existing NTSC service with DTV channels now that the FCC has approved the final DTV allotment table.
The final decision on the allotments came after the agency reviewed 231 petitions, a tedious process that took nearly 10 months of deliberation-and some broadcasters remain concerned.
There were host of concerns raised along the way: transmission interference issues, tower and equipment availability and costs, and noise levels. All told, hammering out the technicalities took the agency 10 years and six DTV Report Orders.
Now broadcasters-particularly those in the top 30 markets-can focus on going digital. Signals are slated to be transmitted in the top 30 markets by year's end.
The announcement marks the assignment of a core DTV spectrum of channels 2-51, and defines construction deadlines for build-outs and numerous other DTV transition rules, while establishing the regulatory certainty broadcasters and manufacturers have long needed to expedite business plans.
So the stakeholders, which include programmers, advertisers, computer hardware and software providers, and cable television and broadcast satellite operators, will now determine what products and services are delivered to the American public.
Mark Richer, vice president and general manager for Comark Digital Services in Alexandria, Va., confirmed that the company's business is increasing. While declining to offer figures, he said Comark is seeing an increase in customer orders and inquiries, and feels "there will be a significant market for DTV this year."
However, he also pointed to the concerns that are not yet resolved.
One is the cable-must-carry issue, which dictates whether a cable operator will be required to carry the DTV transmission. At present, cable operators carry the analog transmissions of local broadcasters. "The question is if the FCC will require cable systems to carry local broadcasters' digital signals as well," Richer observed.
He also said the FCC also has a big issue to contend with concerning building new transmitting towers, which easily cost more than $1 million. Broadcasters want to know if the FCC will be able to preempt authorities from stopping installation of new or modified towers necessary for broadcast.
There is still the other end of the broadcast chain to consider, with no consumer product on the market to test transmissions.
John Mailhot, director of engineering for Lucent Technologies [LU] in Murray Hill, N.J., said with any new technology there is a chicken and egg problem.
"The broadcasters say there are no sets, then the consumer electronics industry says there are no signals on the air yet. The FCC is trying to break the logjam by forcing major location broadcasters into the implementation timetable to break the pattern and get product out in the same time frame."
Thus, that problem will be resolved, said Chuck Stevens, senior vice president of television for NAB,who added that 26 stations in top 10 markets volunteered to get on the air six months early to stimulate TV set sales during the holiday season.
"The biggest problems we're finding now are with the tower build outs and availability of equipment," Stevens said. "There seem to be plenty of transmitters, but right now buying encoders is a bit of a problem, due in part to their high cost. Matsushita was the only company that had one on the market until recently and it was going for $350,000."
But that is changing as well, he said, as Scientific-Atlanta [SFA] and the partnership between Lucent and Harris Corp. should help shore up supplies.
Bob Weirather, director of TV product line with Harris Broadcast in Quincy, Ill., surmised that while all of these factors will raise the cost of an operation, it's more a matter of degree.
"What we don't know is whether these changes will affect every station, because some are mandatory, some are not. How much [broadcasters] want to spend on individual facilities is what we're talking about," he said.
One change that was not made in the final rules was any modification of its staggered build-out plan for DTV stations. Build-outs by affiliates of the four major networks in the top 10 markets are due May 1, 1999; in top 30 markets Nov. 1; and all other commercial stations by May 1, 2002 (and non-commercial stations are to be complete by May 1, 2003).
However, the FCC felt a number of factors would encourage broadcasters to construct their DTV operations quickly, including competition from other video programmers offering digital services, the opportunity to offer supplemental services and the planned cessation of NTSC broadcasting in 2006.
EDITOR'S NOTE: A copy of the revised FCC DTV Table of Allotments is available via the Internet at fcc.gov. (FCC, Bruce Franca, 202/418-2470) |
