There Could Be An ATSC 3.0 Mandate In New York State
New York State Senate Bill S4943 Would Require “Portable Electronic Devices Manufactured For Sale In The State To Be Equipped With An ATSC 3.0 Chip”
New York Senate Bill S4943 was introduced by State Senator Kevin S. Parker (D) [21ST SENATE DISTRICT] in the 2023-2024 Legislative Session. The bill would require portable electronic devices, such as smartphones, to be equipped with an ATSC 3.0 chip. If this bill passed, it would legally require smartphone manufactures to include an ATSC 3.0 chip inside of its devices in order for the devices to be sold in New York State. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has famously been hit with mandates on its devices, after it was forced to comply with the European Union’s USB-C requirement, spelling the end of Apple’s proprietary Lightning connector.
The bill was introduced 2 times before, once in the 2019-2020 year, and again in the 2021-2022 year.
The bill reads:
In November 2017, the United States Federal Communications Commission approved regulations allowing television broadcast stations to voluntarily offer NextGen TV (ATSC 3.0); however, they must be offered alongside a standard digital signal. There will not be a mandatory transition as was done with the transition from analog to digital in 1996. NextGenTV or ATSC 3.0 is the latest version of the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) standards, defining how exactly television signals are broadcast and interpreted. The Over the Air (OTA) TV signals currently use version 1.0 of the ATSC standards, which were introduced in 1996, initiating the switch from analog to digital TV that was finalized in the U.S. in 2009. The switch to digital that ATSC 1.0 delivered, improved picture and sound quality, but it also laid the groundwork for a vast new world of broadcast content and interactivity. By leveraging the same underlying protocols as the internet, NextGenTV makes much more possible.
A consortium has advocated for the use of ATSC 3.0 features, including datacasting, and automatically waking up devices, in order to provide an emergency alert system with support for embedded rich media and finer geotargeting. These features are defined within the "Advanced Emergency Alerting" portions of the ATSC 3.0 standards. In New York State, in light of the CoronaVirus pandemic, Super Storm Sandy and 911, we have been faced with an ever-increasing need to communicate more targeted, immediately and directly to our residents. New York state and local government officials must have the ability to geo-target emergency communications and warnings to its residents directly on their mobile devices.
This bill would require mobile device manufacturers to install ATSC 3.0 chips in devices sold in New York State.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined
Link to Senate Bill
