[Tektalkdiscussion] Fw: Mikesmess2 Postpone switch to Digital television in U.S.

[Bob Acosta]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Linda Gehres" <ljgehres at comcast.net>
To: <mikesmess2 at mikesmess.com>
Sent: Friday, January 09, 2009 7:25 AM
Subject: Mikesmess2 Postpone switch to Digital television in U.S.


----Forwarded message----
On Fri, 9 Jan 2009 00:19:06 -0500, John Rae wrote:


Obama Team Asks Congress to Postpone Digital TV Switch

By Kim Hart
Washington Post, January 8, 2009; 2:34 PM

President-elect Barack Obama's transition team today asked key members of
Congress to consider delaying the nation's switch to digital television
scheduled for Feb. 17, saying there is "insufficient support" for the
problems consumers will experience during the shut-off of analog signals.

In a letter sent to Capitol Hill this afternoon, and obtained by The
Washington Post, the transition team said congressional action is needed.
The action would be the "first step" toward helping consumers get ready for
the transition to digital television. It also called funds provided to
support the conversion "woefully inadequate."

The request for a delay comes 41 days before the government-mandated switch
to all-digital broadcasts, which requires the nation's full-powered
television stations to permanently shut off the traditional analog signals
they have used for more than half a century. Analog television sets that
rely on "rabbit ear" or rooftop antennas to receive broadcasts will not work
unless they are upgraded with a converter box. Consumers who have digital TV
sets, or who subscribe to cable or satellite service, will not lose
programming.

Preparations for the switch to digital television have been rocky, causing
lawmakers and consumer advocates to seriously worry that television
watchers, particularly low-income, rural and elderly Americans who rely most
heavily on over-the-air signals, will lose access to their main source of
news and entertainment.
This week, federal officials said the program to distribute $40 coupons to
consumers to help defray the cost of converter boxes has run out of money,
so consumers who need the coupons may not receive them in time for the
transition.

"With coupons unavailable, support and education insufficient, and the most
vulnerable Americans exposed, I urge you to consider a change to the
legislatively-mandated analog cutoff date," John Podesta, co-chair of the
Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team wrote in the letter, which was sent
to leaders of the Senate and House Commerce committees.

The government-mandated switch to digital television will free up wireless
airwaves for public safety agencies and other advanced mobile services. An
auction of those analog airwaves raised $19 billion for the government last
year. Congress allocated $1.34 billion to the National Telecommunications
and Information Administration to distribute converter box coupons.

By early February, projections suggest the number of consumers on the
waiting list to get a coupon could climb to 5 million, increasing by
hundreds of thousands every day, the letter to Congress said.

Yesterday, Consumers Union urged Congress to delay the transition "until a
plan is in place to minimize the number of consumers who will lose TV
signals."

Lawmakers are looking for ways to make sure consumers who need coupons get
them in time. "But with the date looming, moving the date back certainly
warrants further discussion and may be a wise choice," Daniel Reilly, a
spokesman for Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the House
subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet, said yesterday.

Consumers Union also questioned the ability of the Federal Communications
Commission's call centers to handle a flood of calls from confused
television-watchers
on Feb. 17.



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