As I said in my entry on the Consumer Electronics Show from earlier this week, the Obama transition team recently asked Congress for a delay in the switchover from analog to digital broadcasts that was supposed to take place on February 17. Their argument was that a large percentage of the American public wasn't ready for the change. The government sponsored and financially backed program to provide up to two $40 coupons to households who need the analog to digital conversion boxes - and who don't have cable or satellite service - ran out of money earlier this month. There is a reported backlog of 2.1 million of requests from people for the coupons, up from 1.1 million requests that was reported just a week ago.
Yesterday, Senate Republicans blocked a bill sponsored by West Virginian senator John D. Rockefeller that would delay the changeover to June 12. Republicans said they didn't want to consider a delay for the planned changeover until the National Telecommunication and Information Agency received more money from Congress to restart the coupon program. Senate Democrats plan to bring the bill back up for consideration next week, and the House of Representatives plan to bring up a similar bill for discussion this next week. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Henry Waxman, includes a proposal to make the coupon program easier for people to use.
Critics say the coupon program is flawed not only because the program ran out of money for the coupons, but it didn't begin until January 1, 2008. Critics charge that the coupon program should have been in effect much earlier than the first of last year as the Federal Government mandate to changeover to Digital from Analog has been in place since February of 2006. And because signing up for the coupon program was available only on the Internet, critics say that the people most affected by the digital transition - the poor or the technologically challenged - wouldn't have the means of signing up for the coupon.
Democratic members of Congress have long said the government's program to educate the public regarding the changeover hasn't been in effect long enough, plus they haven't provided enough money toward the education and coupon program. Critics point to ads by the cable companies that are "confusing" to the public saying that if they have cable, they won't need a converter box. There's also some people who say that electronics retailers have confused the buying public saying that they won't need a converter box if they buy a new television that already has an ATSC tuner built in. And another complaint is that some people have found that not only do they need a converter box, but they'll need a new antenna, as well, as the digital signals are being broadcast in both VHF and UHF frequencies.
The Republicans contend that the $1 billion the federal government has spent on the digital transition - for both the coupons and on education - is sufficient. 90% of the television station managers polled earlier this month said they didn't want a delay in the changeover. A delay would also cut into their ad revenue as the majority of television stations have been running public service commercials on the changeover. Some also say what will happen if by June 12 there are still 2 million people that don't have capabilities to receive digital signals. Would there be a further delay?
Watching this with keen interest are a number of telecommunication providers who have been waiting in earnest to use the 700 MHz analog spectrum bands they paid for in a government auction that raised over $19 billion dollars in March of last year. The analog spectrum that was auctioned off is well-suited to wireless broadband, capable of carrying loads of data, can travel long distances, and easily penetrates walls with great efficiency and speed. This will not only benefit telecommunication providers with video on demand programming for personal viewing devices, but will also benefit public safety organizations with quicker and better communication devices for police, fire and other agencies.
Last week, Hawaii became the first state in the United States to changeover from analog to digital broadcasts. While there were some minor technical glitches that were resolved within a couple three hours, most of the transition came off without a hitch. There were some calls from technology-challenged people who had trouble hooking up their converter boxes, but for the most part the transition was smooth and orderly. The FCC was monitoring complaints and helping those people who were having trouble with the conversion boxes. There have been no major complaints or reported problems with the changeover.
Residents of Hawaii who were still on analog could only receive a seven minute video tape message played in a loop that was hosted by a local television personality telling them that the analog signals have been shut off. Called the "analog night-light", the video gave out information and phone numbers of who to contact and how to get a converter box for their television. It wasn't known how long the analog video message would run.
While the estimated number of households that aren't ready for digital has dropped significantly over the past month, governmental hold-ups of the coupon program isn't helping anything. While the government has begun to re-issue coupons as millions of dollars worth of unused coupons have now expired, Democrats are blaming the Bush administration for dragging their feet in providing more money for the coupon program. But Republicans counter that Democrats are holding the Federal Government's financial purse strings and could have passed legislation long before the money ran out to replenish the program.
Don't you just love how the federal bureaucracy runs our day-to-day life?
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