U.S. Congress approves DTV-switch delay
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a bill that seeks to delay the transition to all-digital television broadcasts in the United States until June 12th. The 264-158 vote delays the planned switchover from the original February 17th date. The delay, opposed by most Republicans, is supported by President Obama as up to 20 million households are thought to be unprepared for the transition.
Around 13 million people hold expired coupons to subsidize the cost of a digital converter box, which is needed for households with analog televisions after the switch. Millions of requests for coupons are currently pending as the supply has run out under demand. Those thought to be mostly affected by the switch are poor, elderly and rural households.
“We believe it is irresponsible to ask mostly rural, or elderly consumers to reach into their own pockets to deal with this transition when many folks, including the federal government, are making a profit,” said Joel Kelsey, a policy analyst at Consumers Union. The U.S. Government raised about $19 billion from companies bidding for use of the vacated spectrum. Qualcomm, for example, paid $550 million to use the spectrum for its mobile video service. It was opposed to the delay.
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