Digital to analog tv converter box coupon registration#

Digital to analog tv converter box coupon registration#

Each would have to be in the NTIA's Central Contractor Registration database, and have been in the consumer-electronics business for at least a year. After June 1, 2007, retailers could apply to sell converter boxes.

LG Electronics, Thomson, Samsung, and Jasco were the first companies to announce plans to make the devices. The NTIA set the standards for the converter box based on what manufacturers and broadcasters wanted. At first, anyone would be able to apply, even for those who had one or more TVs connected to cable or satellite.

The Commerce Department had no plans to make coupons available only to the poor.Ĭoupons could be requested by phone, mail, or online. With $1.5 billion in funding, the coupons would account for only half of the 73 million analog TVs not using a pay service, including 18 million in homes having only over-the-air TV reception. With the standards established, manufacturing could begin and the NTIA could select a company to send out coupons. On March 12, 2007, the NTIA held a news conference to announce the standards for the converter boxes and the requirements for receiving coupons. The consumer-education program only had a budget of $5 million, so the companies participating in the transition would have to help. In an effort to limit misconduct, coupon requests would be only be taken between Januand Maeach coupon would be valid for three months. In order to get two coupons, consumers had to state that they had two television sets. The plan prohibited people with cable or satellite service from requesting coupons. In 2006, the NTIA let people see its plan for distributing coupons and comment on it. When the number of people subscribing to cable or satellite who also had TVs that only used an antenna, an estimated 70 million TVs would need upgrading. Īs of April 2006, 20 million people (some with more than one set) received only over-the-air TV. The Act defines the term converter box to mean 'a stand-alone device that does not contain features or functions except those necessary to enable a consumer to convert any channel broadcast in the digital television service into a format that the consumer can display on television receivers designed to receive and display signals only in the analog television service, but may also include a remote control device.' The Act, however, did not define 'eligible household'. The Act directed the NTIA to implement and administer a program through which eligible US households could obtain a maximum of two 'coupons' (actually payment vouchers) of $40 each, to be applied towards the purchase of a digital-to-analog converter box. It directed the FCC to deposit the receipts from the spectrum auction of the returned analog television frequencies into the fund. The Act also established a new Treasury fund, known as the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Fund. Consumer education plans for the subsidy program were targeted to low-income, elderly, disabled, inner city, immigrant, and rural Americans, because these groups were more likely to use an antenna instead of cable or satellite television. (This deadline later changed to June 12.) Recognizing that consumers might wish to continue receiving broadcast programming over-the-air using analog-only televisions, the Act authorized the NTIA to create a digital-to-analog converter box assistance program. The United States Digital Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005, part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, required that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) direct all full-power television stations to cease analog TV broadcasting before midnight on February 17, 2009. Digital Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005

Barton estimated that 8 to 10 million converters would be needed. Each home would receive a rebate coupon for one box, which could be mailed to the United States Treasury for redemption.

The subsidies were intended only for people who could not afford a pay service such as cable or satellite television. Included in his plan was a $400–$500 million subsidy for converter boxes, which were expected to cost $50 each. In March 2005, United States House Commerce Committee chairman Joe Barton of Texas said he would introduce a bill requiring the transition to digital television 'sometime in the spring', saying he wanted analog broadcasting to end on December 31, 2006.