"If the government invests in just a few million TV converter boxes, which is a drop in the bucket of the enormous amount of money being spent on the stimulus package, it would do more good to keep all households connected," said Gene Kimmelman, vice president for federal policy at Consumers Union. In other words, if Congress doesn't act soon, consumers who apply for coupons in the final weeks leading up to the digital transition might not get them in time. That would mean it could send out additional coupons only as unredeemed ones expire, freeing up more money for the program. Now the NTIA is warning that unless lawmakers step in quickly with more funding or new accounting rules, it will have to create a waiting list for coupon requests. Commerce Department in charge of administering the coupon program, expects to hit a $1.34 billion funding ceiling set by Congress. To subsidize the converter boxes, most of which cost between $40 and $80 and can be purchased without coupons, the government has been letting consumers request up to two $40 coupons per home.īut, any day now, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the arm of the U.S. To avoid that, those people have to switch to cable or satellite TV, buy a television set with a digital tuner or buy a converter box that can translate digital signals from the airwaves into analog. People who still rely on analog TV sets to pick up over-the-air signals - whether it is through rabbit-ear aerials on TVs or antennas on the roof - will see their screens go dark when the changeover happens. However, the government program that subsidizes crucial TV converter boxes is about to run out of money. 17 transition from analog to digital television broadcasts looms and as many as eight million U.S.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |