The Department of Defense Friday confirmed it has temporarily suspended inclusion of the 8VSB transmission component in its digital TV technical specifications, pending further review of the industry controversy over the U.S. standard. Sinclair Broadcast Group said the move reflected the Pentagon's concern that "8VSB does not support the future of TV as they see it.'' Also this week, Univision Communications petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to give broadcasters the choice of using 8VSB or COFDM. Sinclair says the latter is better than 8VSB for transmitting signals to indoor antennas and for portable use. But in a letter to the FCC, Robert Decherd, Belo chairman, said modifying the existing standard could be "extraordinarily harmful, if not fatal, to the agency's DTV transition plan."