Digital TV Transition Date Approved

WASHINGTON -- Legislation requiring U.S. broadcasters to abandon their analog spectrum, opening up the "beachfront" spectrum to next-generation wireless services and emergency response agencies, is headed to U.S. President George Bush to be signed into law.

Late Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a large budget reconciliation bill that included a deadline of February 17, 2009, for broadcasters to stop broadcasting analog signals and move to digital television (DTV).

The House approval came after the U.S. Senate in December amended other parts of the House-approved budget reconciliation bill conference report. The final bill includes up to $1.5 billion in funding to provide two $40 vouchers per household to use toward the purchase of digital-to-analog set-top converter boxes. TV owners receiving over-the-air analog signals on older TV sets will need the converter boxes.

The legislation directs the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to begin an auction of the cleared airwaves by January 28, 2008. The High Tech DTV Coalition, made up of 18 IT companies and trade groups, pushed for a DTV transition deadline to free up the spectrum for new services such as mobile broadband, mobile video and WiMax.

Part of the spectrum will also go to help public safety agencies better communicate with each other.

Earning Praise

The High Tech DTV Coalition praised the House action. Each tower transmitting in the upper 700-MHz spectrum band being abandoned by broadcasters can cover four to five times as large a geographic area as a tower transmitting in a higher frequency band, the coalition said.

"This means that high-speed Internet will now be available and affordable in many rural areas where service was not economically feasible before," Charles Townsend, president and chief executive officer of coalition member Aloha Partners LP, said in a statement.

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. Critics said most markets wouldn't move to DTV for many years without a hard deadline.

Auctions of 60 MHz of the spectrum vacated by broadcasters is projected to raise between $10 billion and $30 billion.