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Countdown to D-Day for DTV

Nation gears up for final transition away from analog broadcasts

By Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.Com

June 8, 2009

Although the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has scrambled to educate citizens across the country about what they need for the digital television (DTV) transition, a new Nielsen Research poll indicates that as many as three million households — chiefly minority and low-income — are unprepared for the transition and will lose television service on June 12.

The transition was originally planned for February, but was pushed back by Congress and President Barack Obama over concerns that the government had not done a proper job of educating citizens about the transition, including what equipment they may need and where to get it. The government-subsized set-top converter box program, which enables televisions without cable or satellite service to pick up digital signals, had run out of money early in the year, but received a boost of new funding with the passage of the economic stimulus package.

Obama, in a statement Thursday, said "I want to be clear: There will not be another delay." Obama added that the government's educational efforts have cut the number of unprepared households by 50 percent, but that the remaining vulnerable Americans should get informed quickly on what they need to do.

The FCC has been publishing daily releases reminding citizens what they need to do to prepare for the transition, including testing their television antennae's capability to pick up digital signals, where and how to obtain converter box coupons, and so on. Although the FCC has been understaffed due to delays in approving new chairman Julius Genachowski, acting chairman Michael Copps emphasized the agency was doing everything it could to get Americans ready.

"There was no way we could accomplish in four short months what should have been done over the past four years," Copps said. "The hard truth is that we waited too long to deploy our maximum effort and, until recently, lacked the inter-governmental cooperation and public-private partnerships necessary to tackle the job effectively."

The FCC conducted "soft tests" of the switch to digital broadcasting on May 21 in certain markets. The FCC's toll-free help line received a record-high 55,000 calls across the 125 broadcast test markets, mostly from viewers needing instructions on finding or setting up digital converter boxes.

The agency said it would staff its help line around the clock beginning June 12 to help consumers work through any problems they have with receving digital signals, picking up equipment, and so on.

The FCC also greenlit the transition to digital signals for broadcasters in many regions who were ready by the original transition date of February 17. FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein told ConsumerAffairs.Com in February that many large urban markets, including Los Angeles and New York, contained populations that would not be ready for the transition and needed more information.

The digital television transition was created in order to auction off the frequencies used to broadcast analog signals. A portion of the spectrum will be reserved to create a public safety first-responders wireless network, while another portion was auctioned off to various telecom companies in order to power new mobile devices.

What you need to know

• Visit the FCC's official DTV site to get more information, or call 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322).

• Read Dawn Carlson's article for a thorough overview of what you need to know.

• Apply for a converter box coupon at the NTIA's converter box program Web site.

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