Many of us, especially media members who like
newspapers, are looking forward to Clyburn – a former member of the South Carolina Public Service Commission and daughter daughter of the House majority whip, Rep. James Clyburn – begin her term as a member of the Federal Communications Commission.
Though the FCC (
News -
Alert) is overseeing a number of widely anticipated moves in the telecommunications space – including a faster porting
timeframe for telcos and a possible
investigation into Apple’s (
News -
Alert) use of Skype on the
iPhone 3G – no agenda item is more important at this moment that the imminent
conversion from analog broadcast services to digital television.
The change, originally mandated for Feb. 17 but pushed back to June 12, will affect about 20 million consumers who don’t already use the technology.
In order to replace their TVs with digital units, owners of older sets that receive over-the-air signals must buy a converter box, replace their TV with a digital TV, or subscribe to satellite or digital cable service.
It’s a lot to ask, especially considering that many of those with older sets aren’t tech-savvy or even interested in technology, and – sure enough – the government ran out of funding for coupons to subsidize converter boxes earlier this year. Officials have estimated that up to about 2 million people have sat on a waiting list at one time.
While some companies that have invested millions in the conversion say any delay would decrease confidence in the auction model for spectrum allocation, others say they don’t want to anger customers by effectively leaving them without a TV signal for some time.
Now, as the deadline approaches, FCC officials
reportedly are making one final push.
Brooke Sopelsa of CNBC reports that Jonathan Adelstein, an FCC commissioner, says the nation today is undergoing “a soft test.”
“They (TV stations) are basically going to cut off their analog signal, so people who are still not ready are going to get a visceral message,” Adelstein said.
According to Sopelsa, the FCC message will tell the approximately 3 million analog viewers they’re ready for “DTV” and will provide them with numbers they can call to make the switch.
“Those who do not make the switch will lose television reception on June 12,” Sopelsa reports. “Customers with cable or satellite television will not be affected.”
Chances are that if you’re reading this article, you don’t need to be told about the transition. But if you know anyone who shuns technology, lacks access to information about the DTV transition or simply cannot be bothered to pay attention to the change, you may ask them to turn on the tube today.
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Michael Dinan is a contributing editor for TMCnet, covering news in the IP communications, call center and customer relationship management industries. To read more of Michael's articles, please visit his columnist page.Edited by
Michael Dinan
