[opendtv] News: White House Seeks to Speed DTV Switch
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: OpenDTV Mail List <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 2 Dec 2004 08:27:29 -0500
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA484757.html?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP
White House Seeks to Speed DTV Switch
Bill McConnell -- Broadcasting & Cable, 12/1/2004 6:52:00 PM
President Bush has ordered the Commerce Department to establish a
private-sector advisory committee to help the federal government keep
the digital-TV transition on track and to resolve other tricky
telecommunications issues, such as promoting nationwide, affordable
access to high-speed Internet service.
The White House dictate was included in a Spectrum Policy Initiative
unveiled Tuesday. Formation of the committee was among the
recommendations suggested in a two-part report issued by the Commerce
Department in June.
Although the FCC has said it will be hard to complete the switch to
all-digital TV before 2009, the White House still insists that the
Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information
Administration try to wrap it up by Dec. 31, 2006, the government's
target date for reclaiming old analog channels. (Few expect that date
to be met because stations aren't required to give up the channels
until 85% of their markets are equipped to receive digital
programming, which could take many more years to reach.) The
reclaimed channels will be doled out, in part, to local fire, police
and other public-safety departments.
To facilitate that transfer, the White House also asked the FCC to
consider requiring stations to participate in a voluntary
coordination system, also known as CAPRAD, which is administered by
the National Institute of Justice.
Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Telecommunications
Subcommittee, applauds the White House proposals. "President Bush's
spectrum initiative is exactly the right prescription at the right
time for our nation," he says. "It is essential that we have the
proper spectrum-management plans and policies in place for our
economic well-being and so that we can continue to see further growth
and development of wireless technologies."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
Other related posts:
- » [opendtv] News: White House Seeks to Speed DTV Switch
