FCC to talk about digital conversion in Albany

[Skaggs]

FCC to talk about digital conversion in Albany
January 6, 2009 at 11:21 am by Larry Rulison, Business writer

From the Timesunion.com Business Blog

The Federal Communications Commission is sending an outreach specialist to the Capital Region this week to talk about the conversion to digital TV.

On Feb. 17, all full-power TV stations will switch from analog to digital broadcasting. Therefore analog TVs will no longer receive the signals, although special converter boxes can make that happen. Current TVs already get the digital signal, and cable subscribers are unaffected.

The federal government is offering two $40 coupons for each houshold to buy converter boxes.

Click here to get info on the coupons. Apparently there is a waiting list for those who have not already applied for a coupon because funding has run out.

The FCC is sending out representatives to talk about the changes.

Shirley Suggs, a digital TV outreach specialist, will be here throughout the month, starting tomorrow at the Stratton VA Medical Center in Albany at 10 a.m.

Here is the rest of her schedule:

Thursday, Westview Senior Center, Albany, 10:30 a.m.
Friday: Albany town hall meeting with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (time and place to be determined)
Jan. 14, Schenectady Housing Authority, 2 p.m.
Jan. 14, Schenectady Housing Authority, 5 p.m.
Jan. 15, Troy City Hall, 10 a.m.
Jan. 27, Empire State Plaza, 9 a.m.
Jan. 28, Empire State Plaza, 9 a.m.

[Skaggs]

FCC, VA team up on digital TV coupons
Agencies enroll viewers who will need boxes for TV signal conversion

By LARRY RULISON, Albany Times Union Business writer
First published: Thursday, January 8, 2009

ALBANY — Kathryn Heller-Tisaj was walking through Stratton VA Medical Center on Wednesday morning when she noticed something out of the ordinary.
The Federal Communications Commission had set up a table in the lobby to sign up people for $40 coupons for digital television converter boxes.

The federal government has mandated that all television stations switch to digital signals on Feb. 17, and the converters allow people with older analog televisions to receive the new signal. Unless they are connected to a cable or satellite service, analog televisions won't work without the boxes.

That is why the government is offering two $40 coupons to every home in the country to pay for the devices, which sell in stores for between $40 and $80.

A total of $1.34 billion in coupons has been authorized; currently there is a waiting list because all of those coupons have been requested — even though many of them will never be used.

The coupons expire after 90 days, so the government is issuing new ones as they expire.

About 350,000 are becoming available each week, said Todd Sedmak, a spokesman with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the Commerce Department agency that is running the coupon program.

Heller-Tisaj, an Air Force veteran who lives in Rensselaer, put her name on the waiting list for two coupons. She says it isn't worth it for her to sign up for cable TV because she watches only one or two hours of television a day because she works so much.

"Because of the economy, I'm not going to pay Time Warner for something I can't afford," she said.

The FCC is holding similar coupon sign-ups across the Capital Region this month.

Peter Potter, a spokesman for the Stratton VA, said the VA has been working closely with the FCC on the issue, especially since many of its patients are on fixed incomes and need the assistance, which is why the hospital was chosen as one of the locations.

Here are the other sign-up dates and locations:

Today, Westview Senior Center, Albany, 10:30 a.m.

Jan. 14, Schenectady Housing Authority, 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Jan. 15, Troy City Hall, 10 a.m.

Jan. 27, Empire State Plaza, 9 a.m.

Jan. 28, Empire State Plaza, 9 a.m.