House Democrats Pressure NTIA

HOUSE DEMOCRATS PRESSURE NTIA
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
Incoming House Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) has begun to pressure the Bush administration to adopt broad eligibility rules for a $1.5 billion program to subsidize digital-to-analog TV-converter boxes. Rep Dingell, joined by 19 other committee Democrats, sent a letter Wednesday to the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration to complain that proposed eligibility rules were too narrow. “Consumers who have purchased analog televisions, which can typically last 15 years or more, deserve a government-backed plan to hold them harmless in this transition,” the letter said. The NTIA has proposed excluding pay TV homes from the program. It is also considering a means test so that only low-income homes that rely exclusively on free broadcasting may apply for converter subsidies. In the letter, Rep Dingell and the other Democrats said both ideas were bad. When the Democrats take over Congress in January, they are expected to consider adding more money to the converter program. The NTIA letter, which didn’t promise more money, stated that the $1.5 billion in current law was insufficient.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6392407.html?display=Breaking+News