Tweaks To DTV Transition Concern Technology Sector By Drew Clark National Journal
Monday, July 10 http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-ALRM1152731315474.html The nationwide transition to digital television -- in 2009 -- enacted by Congress earlier this year -- remains intact in the wake of the Senate Commerce Committee's approval of sweeping telecommunications legislation late last month. But some technology industry members are concerned about potential exceptions to the rule. The committee-passed bill provides a two-year extension of the Feb. 17, 2009 date to February 2011 for Spanish-language analog stations broadcasting on channels 2 to 51 within 50 miles of the U.S. border. The language was included in the final draft of the S. 2686 legislation that Commerce Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, authored. The bill cleared the committee on June 28 by a 15-7 margin -- but its fate is uncertain because of other controversies, such as network neutrality and video franchising language. The two-year extension for some analgo stations is one of a dozen provisions in S. 2686 affecting the transition to digital television -- which calls for TV stations to stop sending analog broadcasts by the mid-February 2009 date. The House-passed telecom measure, H.R. 5252, does not include a comparable section concerning the DTV transition. The tech sector is also worried about another potential change pushed by Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe of Maine and Conrad Burns of Montana, and Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota. Their amendment to the Senate Commerce Committee bill directs the FCC to reconfigure the spectrum band that will be up for auction to give smaller wireless carriers a better chance of winning. This past February, President Bush signed legislation setting the February 2009 "hard date" for the transition to digital broadcasts. Technology industry and public safety groups joined forces to ensure that broadcasters vacate analog frequencies by that date. Most broadcasters already send digital signals on a second swath of radio frequencies. Under current law, the government will reclaim spectrum used for analog transmissions, and it will auction that off to telecommunications companies beginning in January 2008. The High Tech DTV coalition of technology companies -- which came together to push for a hard date but has been less active since its enactment -- expressed concern about the Spanish-language section in a June 20 letter to Stevens and Senate Commerce ranking member Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii. It "has the potential to open a Pandora's box that would significantly undermine the transition to digital TV," the group wrote. The letter to Stevens and Inouye added: "As you are aware, the digital television transition has been underway for over twenty years. Now that a firm date is in place, it is critical that all parties remain focused on undertaking the necessary actions to ensure that the February 17, 2009 date is met." The coalition -- which includes such leading tech sector players as Cisco Systems, Intel, Microsoft and Qualcomm -- said that enacting "exceptions or extensions is an invitation to other parties to seek similar treatment." The letter also contended that it could complicate the band-clearing process and depress the value of the spectrum auction. Meanwhile, Stevens opposed the Snowe-Burns-Dorgan amendment, which Snowe had called a "matter of fairness." But a modified version of the amendment ultimately was adopted in the fourth of four managers' amendments on the bill. The original amendment would have reserved 12 megahertz of spectrum for smaller wireless carriers. The modified version includes six megahertz. ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 antunes at uh dot edu Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
