Vouchers will ease TV signal switch

Starting next year, consumers may be eligible for as much as $80 in federal vouchers good toward devices allowing older televisions to receive broadcast channels after stations switch to purely digital signals in 2009.

Stations currently broadcast both traditional analog signals, which people can pick up with “rabbit ear” or roof antennas, and digital signals, but they’ll switch to using solely digital after Feb. 17, 2009. TV watchers who don’t have a digital-to-analog converter box, newer television with a digital tuner, or a cable or satellite subscription will be out of luck.

That’s why Congress has set aside $1.5 billion so U.S. households may request two $40 coupons for purchasing as many as two converter boxes, John Kneuer, head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, said Wednesday. The box, about the size of a Wi-Fi router, could cost $50 to $75, he said.

The boxes should be widely available at retailers, he said.

Part of the unused spectrum will be turned over to police and other first responders, and the rest will be auctioned off for wireless broadband services. The sale could raise billions of dollars, a portion of it for new communications equipment for first responders, Kneuer said.

About 19 percent of Americans, or 21 million households, relied exclusively on free, over-the-air TV in 2005, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

The coupon program, authorized by the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005, will start Jan. 1, 2008.

While all households are eligible for coupons using initial funds of $990 million, only ones using solely over-the-air broadcasts will be eligible if any of $510 million in additional funds are needed, according to the NTIA.

The converters will not display high-definition TV, which requires an HD TV, but the picture should be improved, according to the NTIA.

The coupons will expire after 90 days and be redeemable only for converters on an approved government list. Details about how to request coupons should be available online by January.