Broadcasters Object to Planned Digital TV Bill
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U.S. television broadcasters on Monday labeled as inadequate planned legislation to ensure millions of consumers can still watch television once broadcasters begin airing only in digital.
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Most TV viewers who do not have cable or satellite TV will stick to broadcast programming after the switch to digital TV in February 2009.
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Signal piracy clampdown 'unnecessary' Dell, HP, AT&amp;T, Sony and others have joined forces to oppose a plan that would give broadcasters a whole new set of intellectual property rights over television programmes. They will fight to stop the UN proposal being adopted internationally.â¦
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Nearly six million people with digital receivers may still lose TV signals when digital-only broadcasts begin next February, a new study says.
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Several lawmakers protested a spectrum auction proposal from the chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), saying his plan could limit the number of bidders and raise costs to consumers.
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(InfoWorld) - Several lawmakers protested a spectrum auction proposal from the chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), saying his plan could limit the number of bidders and raise costs to consumers. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's plan would require winners of part of theÂ 700MHz band of spectrum, to be auctioned by early next year, to accept any wireless devices, including phone handsets, allowing customers to transfer devices between mobile providers. Martin's plan would also include net neutrality-like rules, prohibiting auction winners from blocking or slowing Web content from other providers. But several members of the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, many of them Republicans, questioned Martin's proposed rules, which have support of the majority of the FCC. Representative Joe Barton, a Texas Republican, said he was "very disappointed" that fellow Republican Martin was proposing regulations for part of the 60MHz of spectrum to be auctioned. Some proposals byÂ consumer groups and Frontline WirelessÂ would also require auction winners to provide wholesale access to competitors, and Barton praised Martin for not including that provision. "It's not quite as bad as the Frontline plan, but I don't think it's as good as absolute no-condition auction," Barton said. Many Republicans suggested that auction conditions would decrease the value of the spectrum. Congress has budgeted the auction to raise $10 billion with about half of that going toward reducing the U.S. government budget deficit. "Congress has already spent that money," said Representative Charles Gonzalez, a Texas Democrat. Questions about Martin's proposal came from a handful of Democrats. Representative John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat and chairman of the full House Energy and Commerce Committee, asked FCC commissioners whether the device-portability rules would increase the cost of wireless phone plans. Customers want to be able to take their mobile phones with them when they switch carriers, but carriers generally haven't offered that option, Martin said. "I think the benefits outweigh the costs and concerns," he said. Barton suggested that winning bidders could implement the device-portability and net neutrality proposals without FCC mandate. Google has indicatedÂ it could bid billions of dollars, Barton noted. "Why shouldn't we just let Google bid?" Barton said. "If they've got a better idea, why don't they go into the marketplace and bid their four or five billion dollars?" There's customer demand for device portability, but carriers haven't acted on it, Martin said. Wireless carriers didn't offer phone number portability until the FCC forced them to in late 2003, then millions of U.S. residents took advantage of it, he said. Asked whether they supported Martin's proposals, the FCC's two Democrats said they did, while the two other Republicans said they hadn't made their minds up yet. "Please let me keep my phone and let me take it wherever I want," said subcommittee chairman Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat. The so-called open-access rules are necessary for new broadband competition to challenge cable and telecom providers, said FCC commissioner Michael Copps, a Democrat. The 700MHz auction is the last major spectrum auction on the horizon, many participants said. "This is one proceeding where we cannot fail," Copps said. Some lawmakers suggested Martin's proposal doesn't go far enough. Representative Charles "Chip" Pickering, a Mississippi Republican, called on the FCC to require wholesale access rules as well. Wholesale access would allow new and innovative services to flourish on the networks using the spectrum, he said. Martin's plan would "enhance markets and competition," he added.
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Less than thirteen months remain for US television stations to move off the old analog VHF and UHF spectra, into their new digital allotments. But even now, the FCC has to deal with stations that have yet to finalize their construction plans.
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Will Canada be able to keep up with the transition to digital television? Faced with the impending obsolescence of US-based analog television, Canada's broadcasters must decide how -- or whether -- to continue expensive transmitter upgrades to meet the requirements of the digital era.
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A coalition of technology and telecommunications vendors will oppose a plan to give public safety agencies across the U.S. new wireless spectrum, saying it could jeopardize an agreement already in place that would provide spectrum for interoperable emergency communications by early 2009.
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Minimising interference Existing digital television services could be affected by the national switchover to all-digital television, Ofcom has warned.â¦
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By Christian Hill, The Olympian, Olympia, Wash.  Feb. 14--Qwest pushed for a bill Tuesday that it says would hold down soaring cable TV rates in Washington by creating competition.
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After Feb. 17, 2009, full-power television stations will broadcast a digital signal only, meaning people who do not have a digital-ready TV and watch programs with an antenna will need a special converter box.
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Open access advocates say an FCC plan for new spectrum doesn't go far enough to boost competition.
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WASHINGTON -- Federal regulators say a proposal to allow cable TV subscribers to pay only for channels they want wouldn&#39;t reduce their cable bills.
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U.S. regulators on Thursday dealt a  blow to television broadcasters by rejecting requests that  cable operators be required to carry more than one of the  stations' primary channels.
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The DTV transitionis still on schedule for next year, except now some of the major retailers involved in getting new DTV broadcast converter boxes distributed, are worried that the US government won't be able to pull this off.
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Beginning Feb. 18, 2009, television stations will stop broadcasting analog signals. An older, non-digital television without cable or satellite service will need a special converter box to receive a picture.