Let us assume the vast majority of those without cable or digital TV sets are relatively poor.
A little while ago the FCC decided to switch all analog TV signals to digital come February 17, 2009. They made a big deal at the time of their decision that they were providing everyone with free coupons for converter boxes to allow their TVs to receive the digital signals.
Now, a little more than A MONTH BEFORE THE DEADLINE, The Consumerist is reporting:
According to surveys conducted by the Consumers Union, a consumer advocacy group that also publishes Consumer Reports magazine, while 90 percent of the nation is aware of the transition, 25 percent mistakenly believe that one must subscribe to cable or satellite after February, and 41 percent think that every TV in a house must have a new converter box, even those that are already connected to cable or satellite.
They've also asked for the deadline to be extended because:
A) The coupon system is bankrupt.
B) The conversion call center is massively unprepared.
C) The awareness campaign has been and continues to be a failure.
Dear Chairmen Waxman and Markey:
On behalf of Consumers Union, non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports, we write today to express our concern that the nation may not be ready for the digital television transition on February 17. We believe Congress should consider delaying the transition until a plan is in place to minimize the number of consumers who will lose TV signals, particularly by fixing the flaws in the federal coupon program created to offset the cost of this transition.
On January 4, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced that funding for the federal converter box coupon program had run out. NTIA is now placing hundreds of thousands of consumers onto a waiting list each day, and telling consumers to either pay for converter boxes themselves, or subscribe to cable or satellite TV service.
The federal government will receive over $19 billion as a result of the DTV spectrum auction. Millions of consumers could now be forced to spend their own money to navigate this federally mandated transition. This economic climate is not the right time to ask consumers to dig deeper into their own pockets to pay for the miscalculation by the federal government.
Consumers need assistance to navigate the transition at the lowest cost possible. Although the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced yesterday $8.4 million in grants to 12 grassroots groups, we are concerned the timing and level of funding for on-the-ground education is inadequate. To put the announcement yesterday into context, the United Kingdom is spending close to $400 million to educate a population one-fifth the size of the U.S. about its digital broadcast transition.
Also troubling is the Federal Communications Commission’s call center system. We are concerned that the FCC call center is not equipped to handle the flood of calls before and after the DTV switch. We are confident that with some additional time and expeditious planning the federal government can put a strategy in place to ensure that all these calls will be handled appropriately.
With February 17 only forty days away, we are concerned that millions of at-risk consumers, including rural, low-income and elderly citizens across the country could be left with blank television screens. Consumers have fewer resources than ever to buy the necessary equipment to regain access to essential news, information and emergency broadcasts. Against this backdrop, Congress should consider delaying the digital transition so the significant flaws in the converter box coupon program can be adequately addressed and sufficient local assistance put in place to help millions of consumers who are being forced navigate this transition.
Regards,
Joel Kelsey, Christopher Murray
Policy Analyst Senior Counsel
Cc: Representative Joe Barton
Representative Cliff Stearns
My prediction is that those low-income citizens without specific knowledge of the conversion will:
A) Be propagandized by cable conglomerates until they think they must subscribe to cable when they cannot afford the service.
B) Lose their TV service and assume they must buy a converter box.
Another case where the poor and ill-informed get hosed in this country.