FCC Asks for, Gets $10 Million More For DTV Transition Call Centers

According to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke has approved almost $10 million in additional digital television transition funding for the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC asked for the money Tuesday to make sure it had enough operators manning the phone banks for the June 12 DTV transition date and beyond. An FCC staffer had said Wednesday that there was enough money to have the maximum 4,000 operators through June 16, but not afterwards. Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps said at the FCC's DTV briefing Wednesday that he would rather be overprepared than under, and that it was important to have the additional funding, saying that didn't mean the FCC would spend all of it if it didn't need to.