Digital TV switch may leave millions behind

That has led to questions about whether there will be adequate call center resources to handle what could be an avalanche of requests for help.

The FCC is investing roughly $10 million in in-house and outsourced call center operations and has said it expects to be able to handle 2.15 million calls during the week of Feb. 15. But the agency acknowledged that it won't be able to handle all the expected calls on its own and will rely on broadcasters, cable companies, state and local governments and community organizations to run their own call centers.

The FCC also has awarded $8.4 million to 12 outside groups, including AARP, to staff call centers and help consumers buy and install converter boxes.

Still, skeptics such as FCC Commissioner Michael Copps worry that the government remains unprepared should the transition go ahead next month. What has been lacking all along, Copps insists, is urgency throughout the government and industry — along the lines of the nation's Y2K preparations — to ensure that the transition leaves no one behind.

In 2005, Congress required the digital shift to free up valuable chunks of wireless spectrum to be used for emergency-response networks and commercial services. The government has raised roughly $19 billion by auctioning off this spectrum.

Even with the years of warning, however, analysts at Nielsen Co. estimate that as of December, 6.8 percent of the 114 million U.S. households with TVs remained completely unready for the digital transition. Another 10 percent still had at least one TV that was not yet ready.

A key sign that something was amiss came this week when the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, an arm of the Commerce Department, said it had hit a $1.34 billion funding limit set by Congress to pay for converter box coupons.

The coupon program — targeted largely at poor and minority viewers — lets consumers request up to two $40 vouchers per household to help pay for the boxes, which generally cost between $40 and $80 each. The NTIA started a waiting list for coupon requests as of Jan. 4, meaning that consumers who have applied since then are unlikely to receive their vouchers before Feb. 17. The NTIA now needs Congress to step in with more money or new accounting rules to get the program on track.

But even if lawmakers move quickly to resolve the funding issues, the coupon program itself is still not user-friendly, said Gene Kimmelman, vice president for federal policy at Consumers Union, which has called for the transition date to be postponed.

The program was not designed to handle a surge in last-minute requests, he said, which is exactly what the NTIA is now seeing as the government and industry have ramped up efforts to educate people about the transition.

It can take anywhere from four to six weeks to request a coupon, receive it in the mail, purchase a converter box and troubleshoot any technical issues. Now many consumers have run out of time.

"They didn't anticipate the level or the last-minute nature of the demand," said AARP lobbyist Dean Sagar.

Kimmelman added that the coupon program is inflexible in other ways as well. It places a 90-day expiration date on all coupons and prohibits consumers from reapplying if they let their coupons expire without redeeming them.

Added up, many fear, all these issues could amount to a train wreck on Feb. 17.

"We need to try to minimize the dislocation and chaos," Copps said. "But there will be people left behind."

More on  Digital TV transition |   Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

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