Congress has questions for head of DTV Coupon Program
House Commerce Committee and its Telecommunications Subcommittee have sent a list (10/22/08) of questions to NTIA head Meredith Atwell Baker, in regards to the DTV converter box coupon program.
In the letter, Commerce chair John Dingell (D-MI) and Telecom Subcommittee Chair Ed Markey (D-MA) asked for answers on pressing issues such as: broadcast stations or community groups applying for coupons and giving them to consumers whose coupons were lost or stolen in the mail, or giving them to expired coupon holders. Other items include whether the coupon program has enough money left over at the end to issue coupons to cable and satellite TV customers who would also like to convert their televisions should they choose to cancel their services.
A spokesperson for NTIA said that they’re planning to respond to the letter by Oct. 31, the deadline set by congress.
Dingell and Markey submitted the following questions to the NTIA (from Broadcast and Cable)
Related Posts and Reader Questions“1. In your testimony, you noted that television (TV) converter box coupons are portable and can be used by anyone, regardless of the name that appears on the coupon. Therefore, you suggested that consumers who have seen their coupons expire after 90 days who still wish to purchase a converter box could ask their friends or neighbors to apply for coupons on their behalf.
“Do you support non-profit organizations—such as public broadcasting stations or community groups—asking members of their organizations or other concerned individuals to apply and obtain coupons and then donate their coupons or converter boxes purchased with those coupons so that these resources may be distributed to consumers:
a. Who are needy or hard-to-reach?
b. Whose coupons have been lost in the mail?
c. Who live in multiple-dwelling units without individual addresses?
d. Whose coupons expired after 90 days?
“2. You stated in your testimony that you expected the TV Converter Box Coupon Program to have approximately $340 million in unspent funds at the end of the program. If that is the case, do you support repealing or waiving the rule NTIA adopted—which was not part of the statute that Congress enacted—that limits the number of coupons available to households with cable or satellite service?
“3. Do you expect to have $340 million in unspent funds because the amount remaining reflects the expected demand? If you expect that amount of left-over money because you are predicting demand will be low, please respond to the specific points raised to us in an October 6, 2008, letter by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin, who stated that he was “concerned that the total funding required to satisfy consumer demand may prove to be insufficient.”
“4. Do you expect consumers in households that subscribe to cable or satellite service to be turned away when they apply for coupons because there are not sufficient funds to accommodate their requests? If so, on what date do you think this will occur, and how many consumers do you estimate will be denied coupons?
“5. Do you anticipate that any households that subscribe to cable or satellite service might need to be placed on a waiting list until coupons that have been sent to other cable and satellite homes have expired? If so, on what date do you think NTIA will need to create a waiting list, and how many households do you estimate will end up on the waiting list?
“6. If money for converter box coupons for households that subscribe to cable or satellite service runs out, does this mean that NTIA will no longer expect that the TV Converter Box Coupon Program will have unspent funds at the end of the program?
“7. If money for converter box coupons for households that subscribe to cable or satellite service appears to be running out, will NTIA act to waive or rescind the rule it adopted—which was not part of the statute that Congress enacted—that limits the number of coupons available to households with cable or satellite service?
“8. If money for converter box coupons for households that subscribe to cable or satellite service runs out, will you encourage such households to ask family members or neighbors in over-the-air-only households to apply for converter box coupons on their behalf? Please explain how your answer is consistent or inconsistent with your testimony before the Subcommittee that consumers who have seen their coupons expire after 90 days who still wish to purchase a converter box could ask their friends or neighbors to apply for coupons on their behalf.
“9. If a household that subscribes to cable or satellite service is applying for a converter box coupon for a neighbor who relies on over-the-air reception whose coupon has expired or was lost in the mail, will that application be treated differently from an application from a resident of a household that subscribes to cable or satellite service who is applying for the coupon for herself? If not, if the money for converter box coupons for households that subscribe to cable or satellite service runs out, how will residents of cable or satellite homes be able to apply for coupons for friends or neighbors in over-the-air-only homes whose coupons have expired or were lost in the mail?
“10.Based upon the experience with the DTV transition test in Wilmington, North Carolina, and data coming in from calls from consumers in that market, how many coupons do you estimate were lost in the mail during that switchover?
“11.How many coupons does NTIA estimate, by percentage, are being lost in the mail nationally?”
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There’s absolutely no reason not to use coupons. I’ve become very fond of them, especially lately with prices in the grocery skyrocketing. Why wouldn’t you use coupons, its like free money!