in October showed public awareness of the pending switch was up to 92 percent.
Qualcomm, which paid more than $550 million to buy operating licenses in the 700 MHz spectrum that TV broadcasters are vacating on Feb. 17, is opposed to further delay. The company’s MediaFlo service offers 15 channels of digital TV programming on the same 700 MHz frequency—also known nationwide as Channel 55.
Nevertheless, President Obama and prominent Democrats are concerned for the estimated 6 percent, or roughly 6.5 million Americans, who are mostly without means and who are “completely unready” for the planned change. The delay won’t fix the problem. But delaying the digital TV conversion to June 12 will give the elderly, poor, and other unprepared Americans more time to get devices that convert the new digital TV signal into the old analog TV signals used by vintage TVs.
On Jan. 26th, the Senate unanimously approved delaying the Feb. 17 digital TV switchover to June 12. But two days later, the House couldn’t muster the necessary two-thirds majority to adopt the Senate measure. A House vote today, however, would require only a simple majority to get approved.
“I wonder if another four months of delay will change this much,” San Diego wireless industry consultant Ricardo Tavares told me after the meeting. Even if the delay is approved, Tavares says the U.S. is still ahead of Europe and most of Asia in implementing digital TV broadcasts.
That’s probably not much consolation for Qualcomm, Verizon, or AT&T, which have collectively spent billions of dollars to acquire the necessary spectrum and build out the wireless networks needed to deliver TV programming to wireless devices. But Tavares says he doesn’t think it will fundamentally alter their first-to-market advantage if they still have an all-US mobile TV network operating in June.
Qualcomm’s MediaFlo says its FLO TV service already offers complete programming to Verizon and AT&T in 65 major markets nationwide, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, and Washington D.C. MediaFlo’s 2009 expansion called for adding its service in 108 markets with an estimated 200 million customers, including Boston, Miami, Houston, and San Francisco.
Without Congressional intervention, Milne says MediaFlo plans to begin expanding into its new territory two days after Feb. 17. MediaFlo is ready to activate its FLO TV service in most of the new markets, and expects to be in full commercial operation by March 12.
But nobody expects that will happen anymore.
