Backchannelmedia

Las Vegas Review-Journal

By Jennifer Robison, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Jan. 7--The transition from analog to digital television broadcasting is more than three years away, but officials at the Federal Communications Commission are already preparing for the change.

The commission is promoting digital broadcasting for its clarity and its ability to use less bandwidth than analog signals. Officials say the change will free portions of the airwave spectrum for communication among public-safety agencies and emergency first-responders.

In a one-on-one session Friday at the International Consumer Electronics Show, Gary Shapiro, president and chief executive officer of the Consumer Electronics Association, peppered commission Chairman Kevin Martin with questions about the changeover: Is the transition occurring quickly enough? How will consumers with analog sets fare in a digital world? And what is the commission doing to prepare for the advent of digital television?

First, Martin said that though the broadcasting industry is making progress with new digital programming, consumers want even more of the high-definition content. And federal, state and local governments are keenly interested in gaining as soon as possible the additional bandwidth that the switch will unleash.

"Everyone would like to see (the transition) going faster," Martin said.

Some members of Congress sought in 2005 to mandate the changeover by the end of this year. But industry watchers contended that many consumers wouldn't be ready by late 2006 for digital television. So in a bill passed last month, Congress set a hard transition date of Feb. 17, 2009.

Viewers who watch shows on cable or satellite shouldn't have problems getting digital programming after the change. But people who rely on rabbit ears to receive over-the-air broadcasting will need to invest in either a new high-definition set or a converter box that would translate a digital signal to their analog monitor.

Shapiro asked Martin about voucher programs to help subsidize the purchase of converter boxes for low-income Americans.

Martin said the National Telecommunications and Information Administration would oversee any subsidies. Congress will allow as much as $1.5 billion in aid, with converter boxes costing around $40 each.

"We want the transition to be as consumer-friendly as possible," Martin said, because the federal government has a tradition of ensuring that citizens have access to free broadcasting of localized programming.

Now that Congress has established a specific date for the onset of digital broadcasting, Martin said, the commission will spend part of 2006 "aggressively" preparing for the accompanying auction of released bandwidth. The auction must occur by Jan. 28, 2008, so that successful bidders have time to deploy equipment by Feb. 17, 2009, he said. This year, the commission will begin to consider how to ensure auctioned airwaves are distributed as needed geographically, as well as for the most effective public uses. He added that businesses will also have the opportunity to buy small pieces of bandwidth for commercial purposes.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the public auction might raise as much as $10 billion.

Martin also noted that digital television will allow networks that provide free programming to develop additional channels that viewers would have to pay to watch. The commission will need to carefully balance guaranteeing Americans have access to free local television and allowing broadcasters to charge for services so that their investment in digital technology is financially worthwhile, he said.

Shapiro and Martin discussed several other hot communications topics at the session:

--Shapiro asked Martin if commission officials were doing enough to speed the spread of broadband technology, which can transmit multiple types of data over a single communications medium in greater amounts than telephone networks can deliver.

"We're going to do everything we can to remove barriers to broadband deployment," Martin responded. "Its high-speed capabilities can really change our lives."

Martin noted broadband has wide applications in industries ranging from health care to education, and said the commission's best contribution to quickly furthering the technology would be to encourage competition among as many players as possible.

--Shapiro also asked Martin to clarify the commission's indecency policy. Shapiro said the policy seemed "chilling."

"People don't know what they can say or do (on TV or radio)," Shapiro said. "Do pay providers have a leg up, and what is the role of government" in regulating indecency?

Martin acknowledged that cable television and other pay services don't have the same decency standards that prevail in broadcast shows partly because of the histories of how each form of service developed. Also, because broadcast airwaves belong to the public and are licensed to users, the federal government has an obligation to apply decency standards.

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