US digital TV switchover pushed back

The US Senate has pushed the switchover date for digital TV back to June

The US government has decided to put off its planned termination of analogue television broadcasts.

Senate members approved a new plan which will push the official transition date for analogue to digital broadcasts from 17 February to 12 June.

The delay follows negotiations last week between members of the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation amid fears that many consumers had yet to install the converter boxes needed to receive the new signal on older TV sets.

Broadcasters and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have been warning consumers for months about the turnover, but committee members concluded that many people were still unaware of the impact of the transition.

A shortage of coupons for converter boxes has compounded the problem, as have fears of a converter box shortage after the switchover.

"The shameful truth is that we are not poised to do this transition right. We are only weeks away from doing it dreadfully wrong, and leaving consumers with the consequences," said committee chairman John D Rockefeller.

"Doing better means more than cobbling together the failed efforts of the last administration. Doing better requires more attention and more resources."

Under the terms of the new agreement, local broadcasters which are prepared to make the switch early can do so with FCC approval. The mandated switchover date will be moved to 12 June, and the coupon programme will be extended.

Texas Republican senator Kay Bailey Hutchison was among those pushing for a delay. "I had serious concerns about shifting the digital television transition without a sound plan to inform consumers or address the converter box coupon shortage," she said.

"These changes will help consumers whose coupons have expired, and allow TV stations that are prepared, and ready, to move forward without the requirement of simulcasting."

The delay has been hailed as a victory for consumers, but could prove a headache for telecoms firms eager to fill the newly-vacated spectrum.

Portions of the analogue TV spectrum had already been auctioned off and plans were underway to establish a new wireless broadcast spectrum, including a possible free broadband network.