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The Big DTV Transition
by Sister Dorothy Robinson, OSB, OMUG Newsletter Editor
The Olympia Microcomputer User Group, Washington

Obtained from APCUG with the author's permission for publication by APCUG member groups.

Computer users often speculate about how digital technology will affect us and our world.  We are now entering the final stage of a rather large digital transition, that of digital television signals.  Didn’t know this transition was going on?  You’re not alone.  

On February 16, The Olympian ran an Associated Press article on the digital television transition that is happening in the United States. The article said that in about a year, on February 17, 2009, all analog TV broadcasts will end in this country. If a TV does not have a digital tuner, or is not connected to cable or satellite or other paid services, it will need a digital converter box to receive and display digital signals. About 13 million households would be affected—those with older TVs (no digital tuner) or receiving signals only over the air as in the past. This is because analog tuners can't decode and display digital signals.

Options, said The Olympian, for continuing to receive TV signals after February 17, 2009 are to buy a digital converter box ($40-50, according to this AP article), a new TV with a digital tuner, or get connected to a paid service. The federal government is offering $40 coupons, up to two per household, good on the purchase of a converter box. You can now call 1-888-388-2009 or apply online at http://www.dtv2009.gov. There is also an option online to print out an application and mail it in.  You may want to apply early.

http://www.9wsyr.com says “You will still need an over-the-air antenna in addition to the converter box to receive a digital signal on your analog television set. Your current antenna should work the same as before.  Many major chains have been certified to sell the converter boxes, including Best Buy; Circuit City; Kmart; Sam's Club; Wal-Mart; Sears, Radio Shack and Target.”

Best Buy, according to centredaily.com, “will stock an Insignia-branded analog-to-digital converter box exclusively, retailing at $59.99.”

PRNewswire.com states “Converter boxes at $49.97 are on shelves now at Wal-Mart already.”

According to radioshack.com, you can find a Zenith converter in stores for $59.99.  It is looking like the difference between the price of the converter box and the coupon will be $10 and up.

The Olympian article said the reasons for the changeover are to allow for auctioning off excess airwaves (digital broadcasting is much more efficient so there will be an excess), for new wireless services, and “possibly” providing emergency air networks for disasters. Digital signals can also provide better picture definition—but that depends on whether high definition programs are being broadcast and on whether a TV is set up to receive high definition programs. Digital signals can support high-definition (HDTV) broadcasts—but is not the same as HDTV.

From How Stuff Works,  http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/hdtv1.htm, comes this information: “Some people believe that the United States is switching to HDTV—that all they'll need for HDTV is a new TV and that they'll automatically have HDTV when analog service ends. Unfortunately, none of this is true.” If you want more information on how HDTV works, check this site at the link above.

The government website at http://www.dtv.2009.gov has this to say about the reasons for the changeover: "Digital broadcasting promises to provide a clearer picture and more programming options and will free up airwaves for use by emergency responders." It says nothing about auctioning off air wave spectrum or the intricacies of HDTV.

The Benton Foundation page at http://www.benton.org/index.php?q=node/1257 has information on the background and time-line for DTV transition. It states:

"Digital television (DTV) is a new, more efficient technology for transmitting and receiving broadcast television signals. But DTV signals are not compatible with today's analog TV sets in most American homes. Under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the amount of spectrum given to television station owners was doubled. The policy rationale for this was to enable the stations to transition US consumers to digital TV without interruption of analog broadcasts. But after ten years of digital TV broadcasts, only a small number of US households have made the switch to DTV, delaying the return of valuable spectrum that could be used by emergency officials and auctioned to offset federal deficit spending."

Included in benton.org's time-line called "Getting to February 2009: Implementing the Digital TV Transition," is this step:

"January 28, 2008 The FCC must conduct the auction of the licenses for recovered analog spectrum, commencing the bidding no later than this date, and is to deposit the proceeds of the auction in the US Treasury no later than June 30, 2008."

In other words, this is happening right now, if things are proceeding on schedule.

CNN.com's take on this topic in January of 2006:  (http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/04/technology/pluggedin_digitaltv/index.htm ):

“Once TV stations switch to digital transmission, they will return to the government a big chunk of the radio spectrum they currently use to transmit their analog channels.  Some of that spectrum will go to first responders—police, fire and public safety officials—so they can better communicate with one another. Breakdowns in emergency communication slowed the response to the September 11 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina. New spectrum should help.

The rest of the spectrum will be auctioned off to the highest bidders—probably tech companies. The sale of this valuable, scarce real estate is expected to bring in about $10 billion, maybe more. That will help reduce the federal budget deficit.”

CNN also talked about the new technology and services that will likely be developed using this increased air availability, for example, cheap wireless broadband access virtually everywhere. Referring to an historical parallel, it states:

“Scheduled for 2008, the auction will be the biggest spectrum sale since a 1994-95 spectrum auction. That sale helped boost the mobile phone industry, boosting the number of cell phone subscribers in the U.S. from 24 million to 200 million. It also helped drive down the cost of wireless minutes from an average of 47 cents a minute to 9 cents a minute, according to analysis from financial services firm Stifel Nicolaus.”

Whether we like it or not, the DTV revolution is on its way.  The best we can do is prepare ourselves.  For many of us, the $10 or $20 needed to buy a converter box is not a problem.  Unfortunately, some people on fixed or low incomes will find it very difficult to get ready for the change.  For them, the TV screen may go dark at midnight on February 17, 2009.  :

This article has been provided to APCUG by the author solely for publication by APCUG member groups. All other uses require the permission of the author (see e-mail address above).