Don’t Count Out DTV Coupon Redemptions Q1 2008, NTIA Program Dir. Says
It’s not necessarily true that DTV coupon redemptions won’t begin until Q2 2008, NTIA’s program dir. told a meeting Mon. at Commerce Dept. hq to clarify the agency’s final coupon rules (CD March 13 p1). “We do anticipate widespread redemptions in the first quarter,” Anita Wallgren told the meeting, contrary to misinterpretations that they won’t be possible. NTIA called the meeting to tell the public about the program rules, but few if any ordinary citizens attended the session. Most in the audience of several dozen were lobbyists and representatives of vendors that plan to bid for the contract.
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In its vendor procurement, NTIA’s request for proposals released last Wed. said coupons wouldn’t be distributed until the program’s “operational” phase begins April 1, 2008, or sooner, and only when the agency certifies that its contractor’s systems work as they're supposed to. “The program needs to retain flexibility” about when coupons will start to be redeemed, Wallgren said to a query by John Godfrey, Samsung vp-govt. & public affairs.
The statute is “clear” that NTIA’s contractor “must be open for business” to accept coupon requests Jan. 1, 2008, Wallgren said. “Having said that, it’s really unclear whether manufacturers will have product shipped and ready to be on shelves by January 1, and it’s unclear whether retailers will be ready to process coupon redemptions at the point of sale on January 1,” she said. “I think we have a great desire, and our contractor will have a great desire, to start processing coupon redemptions as quickly as possible.” Once NTIA’s contractor “demonstrates that its technical solution works and NTIA approves it, NTIA will direct the contractor to start sending out coupons -- and that may be well before March 31, 2008,” Wallgren told us by e-mail Mon.: “The decision on when coupons will be sent out will be based on all of these factors including whether converters are generally available for consumers to purchase in retail stores.”
Putting the DTV coupon program into practice is like building a house, and NTIA’s final rules are as if “we had had an architect give us a design,” Wallgren said. Questions now “really have to do more with the actual construction,” and those will rest with the program’s contractor, to be chosen this summer, Wallgren said.
Wallgren was responding to a representative of the Assn. of People with Disabilities who sought NTIA assurances that call centers that are to be established as part of the consumer outreach be required to handle calls through relay services. “I wouldn’t be able to say with any kind of certainty that we will in fact handle calls through relay services,” she said. “But within the requirements we are giving the prospective contractor, it would not be surprising to me that that would be contemplated in their solutions.”
Other disclosures: (1) NTIA doesn’t have “explicit rules in place” for manufacturer appeals if a converter box is denied certification for the coupon program, Wallgren said. “With the help of our attorneys in the Department, if necessary, we'll come up with a process,” she said. (2) Wallgren conceded she and other NTIA executives were “stumped” by a query from a Broadcom executive whether coupon-eligible converter boxes would carry an import duty. “We'll have to look into that,” she vowed. (3) LG Vp-Govt & Public Affairs John Taylor demonstrated a prototype coupon- eligible converter box he said would retail for about $60 when it’s ready to ship early 2008. Precise availability of the box will depend on the outcome of talks LG is having with retailers, Taylor said.