Obama team calls for delay of U.S. digital TV switch

U.S. president-elect Barack Obama is pushing to delay his country's switch to digital television broadcasting from analog transmission because he believes too many consumers aren't ready for proposed Feb. 17 change.

In a Thursday letter to key congressional lawmakers, John Podesta, the co-chair of Obama's transition team, said the government has no more money to provide coupons to help people pay for digital television converter boxes.

"With coupons unavailable, support and education insufficient and the most vulnerable Americans exposed, I urge you to consider a change to the legislatively mandated cut-off date," Podesta wrote.

In 2005, Congress required that broadcasters switch from analog to digital broadcasts to free up valuable chunks of wireless spectrum and for emergency-response networks. Much of the newly available room in the airwaves was bought for about $16 billion US by mobile phone companies Verizon and AT&T in a January auction.

Some 20 million U.S. citizens who have older television sets that do not have the capacity to receive digital signals have had to purchase converters.

The U.S. has tried to ease the transition by providing $40 coupons that reduce the cost of many of the boxes available at retailers to about $20 US.

The Commerce Department said earlier this week it exhausted its $1.34 billion US budget for the converter subsidy. More than one million people remain on the waiting list for the coupons, according to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), a unit of the department responsible for the subsidy program.

Bush administration opposes delay

Obama's stance on the matter boosts the likelihood of a delay, the Reuters news agency quoted a congressional source as saying.

John D. Rockefeller, the Democratic chairman of the senate commerce committee has said he supports the delay. But a handful of Republicans have voiced their opposition, arguing the move would be costly and cause confusion, Reuters reported.

Meredith Attwell Baker, head of the NTIA, said the Bush administration opposes a postponement since the government and industry have "invested so much in preparing for this date."

Baker added that the current administration wants to instead focus on quickly fixing the problems facing the coupon program to meet last-minute demand ahead of the Feb. 17 cut-off. The NTIA is asking for another $250 million US in funding for the program.

Canadian digital switch on horizon

One Canadian likely to be keeping a close watch on the U.S. transition struggles is Heritage Minister James Moore, who insisted last month that Canada's 2011 switch to digital television should remain on track to keep up with the U.S. industry.

"If better picture-quality signals are available from our neighbours, Canadians will turn increasingly to American stations," he said in a Dec. 3 speech to the International Institute of Communications in Ottawa.

"This will have an impact on Canadian broadcasters who rely on American programming and regulatory benefits, such as simultaneous substitution, to generate revenues and create Canadian programming."

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has said that Canada's switch to digital from analog will take effect by Aug. 31, 2011.

Canadian regulators have not indicated what the freed-up airwaves will be used for, but a auction similar to the one in the United States is expected.

Canada has also not unveiled any plans for a coupon-subsidy program, although industry experts have said that by the time the changes take effect, the need for these boxes could be completely eliminated by TV manufacturers, which would make all new sets compatible.