NTIA: Only 43% Of Over-The-Air Households In Hawaii Applied For DTV Coupons

According to the National Telecommunications & Information Administration, only about 43% of over-the-air households in Hawaii have applied for DTV-to-analog converter box coupons. That comes with only about a month until the state switches to DTV at noon on Jan. 15, more than a month earlier than most of the rest of the country. According to NTIA, through Dec. 7, 9,990 applications had been approved from households self certifying that they were analog-only. That is out of a total of 23,290 over-the-air only households, according to Nielsen. And those are only the coupons that have been applied for. NTIA does not have information on how many of those have been redeemed and the converter boxes bought and tested. But a lack of coupon requests does not translate directly to unpreparedness. Some folks may have bought converters without using the $40 subsidy, while others may have signed up for cable or satellite service or upgraded to a DTV set.