http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-278883A1.pdf FCC RESPONSE to GAO's Report on the DIGITAL TELEVISION TRANSITION December 11, 2007 Introduction In response to a Congressional request to provide information on the progress of the Digital Television (DTV) transition, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) conducted an investigation into progress made (1) by federal entities and others in facilitating the transition, (2) in educating consumers on the transition, and (3) in implementing the converter box subsidy program. GAO submitted to the FCC a draft report on this investigation, finding, among other things, that no comprehensive plan exists for the DTV transition and that the FCC, in conjunction with public and private stakeholders, should develop and communicate such a plan. As we explained to the GAO, the FCC has been planning for the DTV transition for more than 20 years. Indeed, as we further explained, many of the DTV deadlines and milestones that Congress established were built around the FCC's own timeline for implementing multiple aspects of the transition. The following pages detail the FCC's considerable and comprehensive plans, goals and achievements on technical, policy, consumer outreach and other critical elements of the DTV transition. Throughout the attached pages we have highlighted text that we submitted to GAO that responds to corrects or clarifies statements GAO included in its original draft report. ------------------------------------------- The full FCC response is at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-278883A2.pdf Commissioner Adelstein's comment is, as always, interesting and even entertaining. In this case, that would be "I told you so," to the FCC. -------------------------------------------- http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-278848A1.pdf FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 11, 2007 COMMISSIONER JONATHAN S. ADELSTEIN RESPONDS TO GAO REPORT ON DTV TRANSITION Washington, DC - In response to the GAO report on the DTV transition, Commissioner Adelstein released the following statement: "This GAO Report confirms what I've been saying for well over a year. The FCC does not have a strategic plan for the DTV transition. There is not even a plan to come up with a plan. Only the FCC appears to be in a state of denial over what the GAO is telling us. Rather than making excuses, we need to come up with solutions. We need to establish an interagency task force now, and we need to reinstate our internal FCC working group immediately." --------------------------------------------- Commissioner Copps compares what planning the FCC SHOULD be doing to what was done for Y2K. http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-278869A1.pdf Seems to me an unfortunate example. From what I was able to determine at the time, the whole Y2K fracas was blown way out of proportion. Industrialized countries which did next to nothing, e.g. Italy, had virtually no problems either. I believe it's likely that this DTV transition can also occur without undue fuss and bother from the Government, as it did in Germany and in the Netherlands (at least). My *personal* take is that the govt has done what it needed to do (some argue not always by mandating the best solutions, however that's another matter). It is now up to those who are entrusted with the spectrum and who profit from it to inform *their* clients and ensure that these clients continue to exist in the future. The full response lists all the steps the FCC has accomplished, starting 1987. These include establishing the modulation standard, frequency planning during and post transition, station assignments, dates, how this affects LPTV, cable TV, etc. But no mention of the 2001 comparison tests with COFDM, or that whole controversy, as far as I can tell. If indeed the GAO report says that "no comprehensive plan exists for the DTV transition," I would have to agree with at least those in the FCC who wrote the response, that this is an overstatement. Bert ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.