Don’t Confine DTV Coupons to Over-the-Air Households, Democrats Urge NTIA

Committee Democrats opposed the $1.5 billion Republican DTV coupon plan “because we believed it did not address sufficiently the legitimate and reasonable expectations of consumers who will be disenfranchised by the Government’s decision to shut off analog broadcasting,” they said in the letter, signed by Ranking Member Dingell (D-Mich.), Rep. Markey (D-Mass.), ranking member on the House Telecom & Internet Subcommittee and 18 other Democrats. Dingell will chair Commerce next Congress.

“We continue to believe this plan is highly flawed and disadvantages the poor, the elderly, minority groups, and those with multiple analog television sets in their home,” the letter said. “However, as NTIA has been directed to implement key aspects of this program, which directly affects the welfare of our constituents, we write today to offer our suggestions and comments on how NTIA may address certain DTV transition issues within its control so as not to exacerbate the plan’s statutory flaws.”

In debate over the bill, Democrats said the legislation should provide for enough subsidies to cover all analog TVs owned, but were rebuffed by Republicans on budgetary grounds. Democrats take over the House and Senate in Jan., but the letter stopped short of saying they'll seek legislative changes in the coupon program. The letter did urge that the coupon program “be designed to provide timely information to Congress and the public concerning the rate of coupon request and redemption.” Doing so “would enable Congress to evaluate the effectiveness of NTIA’s transition program and whether changes should be made prior to the statutory deadline,” the Democrats said. “NTIA should also design an efficient and appropriate means for participating retailers to provide updated information concerning the inventory of converter boxes available in retail stores in order to remedy any supply difficulties promptly. We suggest that information about the particular converter boxes eligible for the program be sent to consumers along with the coupons.”

Virtually all who filed comments in the rulemaking and had an opinion on NTIA’s proposal for restricting eligibility to over-the-air households were dead-set against it. So are the Democrats, they told NTIA. That will shut out “millions of American consumers who subscribe to cable or satellite service, or have purchased a digital television, but continue to use other over-the-air analog television sets in their home,” the letter said. It will “unfairly disenfranchise consumers who possess perfectly functioning analog televisions” and impose “unnecessary and burdensome administrative costs,” the letter said. Consumers owning analog TVs with life expectancies of 15 years or more “deserve a government-backed plan to hold them harmless in this transition,” the letter said: “It is bad enough that consumers will have to apply for coupons and hope they receive their coupons before the money runs out.”

Democrats also oppose means-testing coupon applicants, as NTIA suggested it would consider. Means testing drew as much fire in comments as restricting eligibility to over-the- air households. “Since the Congress first began to plan the digital transition process, a paramount goal has been to avoid consumer disruption,” the letter said: “We trust that when implementing this Congressional policy, NTIA will not enact administrative burdens that make it more difficult for consumers to make use of the converter box program.”

The Democrats also urged NTIA to: (1) Require coupon- eligible boxes “at a minimum” deliver the same “picture and audio quality consumers experience today” with their analog TVs. (2) Weigh “cost-effective measures to ensure that digital converter boxes have the capability to be updated, modified, or repaired in circumstances where problems arise. If boxes are not capable of software updates, the emergency alert system, television ratings information, closed captioning data, or other technology or services may be vulnerable.” (3) “Coordinate adequate and timely testing procedures” with the FCC to assure boxes work properly when installed. CEA, MSTV and NAB urge an FCC-supervised “verification plus” procedure for certifying coupon-eligible boxes. (4) Make energy efficiency “a key component” of coupon-eligible boxes. But the Democrats didn’t say if they back a specific energy proposal. CEA, MSTV and NAB have teamed with the National Resources Defense Council to urge NTIA to adopt 2-w standby mode and auto-power-down mandates for coupon-eligible boxes. They repeated that request in ex parte meetings at NTIA this week.

The $5 million “statutory” spending cap for consumer education is “woefully inadequate,” the Democrats said, but they didn’t indicate they will seek more. They urged NTIA to “carefully manage the necessary outreach and education for a smooth, consumer-friendly transition” and to work closely with “other agencies and entities” on consumer outreach, which “must be accessible by non-English speakers and persons with disabilities.” The coupon program “must specifically target lower-income households and other vulnerable populations,” the Democrats said: “NTIA must ensure that broadcasters, manufacturers and retailers increase educational efforts to ensure that consumers are not confused by the transition and have the information necessary to participate in the converter box program.”

CEA and NAB reacted to the Democrats’ letter by restating their policy positions. “A top priority of policymakers should be protecting consumers against being disenfranchised from access to television signals,” said NAB Exec. Vp Dennis Wharton. Similarly, CEA “will continue to work with Congress, NTIA, industry and consumer groups to ensure that no American is left without over-the-air reception on February 18, 2009,” said Julie Kearney, senior dir. & regulatory counsel.