DTV News: Digital TV Switch Could be Tough
Source: PCWorld
PCWorld claims that the U.S. is going to face some tough challenges ahead of the planned February 17th, 2008 Digital Television rollout. Some highlights from the story include:
- The U.S. government has allocated US$5 million to consumer education about the impending change - In contrast, the story notes that the U.K., with about a fifth of the population of the U.S., has allocated $600 million toward consumer education during its recently started digital TV (DTV) transition
- A $1.5 billion voucher program to help U.S. residents with analog TV sets purchase DTV converter boxes may only cover about 30 million TV sets
- Representative Rick Boucher, a Virginia Democrat,summarized that there’s been talk of using volunteers to help people hook up the converter boxes or replace antennas, but he suggested many of those volunteers would need training. “They’re going to need some kind of infrastructure behind them,” he said.
The story does add that the U.S. Government may seek further budget funds, which could help to ease the transition process. Monitoring the U.K.’s recent rollout success of Digital TV should benefit U.S. Consumers as well.
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April 6, 2008 | Filed Under News
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