According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the federal hotline set up to hear calls relating to the mandatory DTV transition has had over 700,000 calls since Friday morning, the day the analog signals were cut off.
200,000 of the calls were related to the federal coupons towards digital converter boxes, perhaps implying a significant amount of people still do not have the right equipment to receive digital signals.
Another 200,000 calls were from consumers who have the boxes but were confused on how to operate them successfully. The FCC told many to “re-scan the airwaves for digital frequencies,” and says 99 percent of the problems were solved.
Many others called about problems with reception, which is a much deeper problem than simple converter box issues.
“Our job is far from over,” said FCC Chairman Michael Copps. “This transition is not a one-day affair. We have known about re-scanning and reception issues for some time and have been doing our best to get the word out.”
The most callers came from the Chicago, Illinois area, but significant calls came from Dallas, New York, Philadelphis and Baltimore as well.
The Commerce Department recently reported they had sent out coupons for over 60 million converter boxes, but were still receiving over 100,000 requests a day, even during the last week. Research firm SmithGeiger LLC says there are probably still over 2 million households which are not prepared, despite repeated warnings and a full marketing campaign by the government. The most likely groups to not be prepared? Minorities, people over 65, and people under the age of 35.
Result for: Converter
In January, the US Government postponed the mandatory DTV transition from February until June 12th, as it was clear that over 6 million households were not ready.
Today, the federal Department of Commerce has said that if you are still unready and have not applied for a converter box coupon, you should do so no later than Monday, or risk having no TV signal by the time of the transition.
Every household can receive two $40 coupons to use towards the purchase of converter boxes, and more information about the coupons can be found at 888-DTV-2009 or www.DTV2009.gov.
As of May 10th, Nielsen estimated that there are still 3.3 million households not ready for the transition.
Result for: Converter
A website which specialiazes in electronics reviews and ratings is offering a unique solution for US residents who need DTV vouchers. They’re offering to match people who need the coupons with those who have already received theirs but won’t be using them.
When the DTV Delay Act passed the US House of Representatives last week there were still more than 2 million people on the waiting list to receive government vouchers for DTV converters. If you’re one of thoe people Retrevo’s program isn’t meant for you. In fact their website notes it’s illegal to get more than two vouchers per household, regardless of the source.
But if you’re not already on the waiting list, time may not be your only concern. The DTV Delay Act only extends the amount of time before analog signals switch off. The money for the voucher program remains the same.
At the same time it provides a provision for replacing vouchers that expired before being used, making even more people eligible to get on the waiting list. There have been bills proposed to either increase the money available for the voucher program or give a tax credit for the purchase of a converter box. So far though, none of them appears close to becoming law.
