Digital TV Switch Nears a Date

WASHINGTON -- The Senate has voted to set April 7, 2009, as the deadline for U.S. television stations to switch to digital broadcasts and free up analog radio spectrum for wireless broadband and public-safety uses.

The Senate approved the digital-television (DTV) transition deadline late last week as part of a large budget package aimed at reducing the federal deficit. Auctioning off part of the freed-up spectrum is expected to raise $10 billion or more, with $5 billion going to the U.S. treasury in the Senate legislation.

Earlier Date Rejected

The Senate rejected an amendment by Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, to move the transition deadline up by a year. McCain argued that emergency response agencies need additional spectrum as quickly as possible. Emergency response agencies often cannot communicate with each other because of congested spectrum, McCain said.

"Here we are [for] our first responders, the brave men and women who put their lives on the line in defense of the lives of their fellow citizens who have already given their lives, who have performed so magnificently, who want to be able to talk to each other, who want the spectrum freed up," McCain said on the Senate floor. "And what do we do here in Congress? We delay it as long as possible. It is disgraceful conduct on our part."

Supporters of the 2009 date argue that an earlier deadline would rush spectrum auctions, potentially leading to lower bids. With lower bids, the auctions wouldn't meet the budget deficit reduction targets set by Congress.

In October, a House of Representatives committee set December 31, 2008, as the DTV transition deadline. Negotiators would have to iron out the differences in the two bills before a DTV deadline becomes law.

Long Road to DTV

A group of technology companies has been pressing for a firm deadline for the DTV transition, saying the new spectrum will be optimal for deploying next-generation wireless services.

Supporters of a hard deadline say first responders such as police and firefighters need additional spectrum to improve interoperability between the multiple emergency response agencies in metropolitan areas. Following the September 11, 2001, terrorists attacks on the U.S., the national 9/11 Commission recommended that emergency responders should have additional radio spectrum. In many cases, the multiple emergency-response agencies responding to the September 11 attacks couldn't communicate with each other because their radios operated on different spectrum bands.

Under current law, broadcasters are required to give up their analog spectrum by the end of 2006, but only in television markets where 85 percent of homes can receive digital signals. While cable-television service can convert digital signals for analog sets, some estimates say there are tens of millions of analog TV sets that receive signals over the air. Those sets won't work after the DTV transition without converter boxes.

In December 1997, the Federal Communications Commission voted to reallocate some frequencies in the 700MHz band to public safety and new commercial uses, in exchange for the digital spectrum TV stations received. Most television markets would never reach the 85 percent digital threshold now in law without a hard DTV deadline, critics say.

Also on Thursday, the FCC moved up the deadline that all TVs sold in the U.S. must be capable of receiving digital signals. The commission moved up the date by four months, with the new deadline now March 1, 2007. The FCC has phased in deadlines for large TV sets to be digital ready; all TV sets with screens larger than 36 inches were required to be digital ready by July 1 of this year.