Verizon does about-face, voices support for DTV transition delay: June 12 may soon be the new deadline

A digital TV transition postponement appears increasingly inevitable, with the parent company of top mobile-phone carrier Verizon Wireless shifting course to support a limited extension of the mid-February deadline. Verizon Communication Inc.’s move comes shortly after congressional and Obama transition team officials late last week signaled such a delay would not be open-ended.
“Because of these important developments, Verizon agrees that a one-time delay from Feb. 17 to June 12, as reflected in Senator Rockefeller’s draft bill, is appropriate,” stated Verizon Chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg in a letter to leaders of the House and Senate Commerce Committees. “Any further delay would harm the nation’s economy and broadband future, as I noted in my letter earlier this week.”
Indeed, Seidenberg initially voiced opposition to a DTV transition delay after the Obama transition team co-chair John Podesta recommended pushing back the deadline in a Jan. 8 letter to key lawmakers due to various problems. The Obama transition team clarified its position Friday in a second letter to lawmakers.
Verizon Wireless and No. 2 wireless provider AT&T Mobility were the big winners in last year’s 700 MHz auction, which netted the U.S. Treasury nearly $20 billion. The 700 MHz spectrum – which is tied up in the DTV transition – is key to next-generation wireless services. Verizon Wireless said it plans to begin rolling out Long Term Evolution-based wireless service later this year, while AT&T Mobility’s 700 MHz strategy is somewhat less urgent. As such, AT&T Inc.’s initially said it would support a brief DTV transition delay lasting preferably no longer than 90 days.
Bills crafted by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) would drag out the DTV transition a bit longer than 90 days to June 12. Republicans on Friday blocked an attempt by the Democratic leadership to get a bill fast-tracked to the Senate floor for a vote. Waxman said the committee will markup a companion DTV delay draft bill on Wednesday.
Despite opposition from Republicans and the consumer electronics industry to changing the Feb. 17 DTV cut-over date, it appears Democrats – who bolstered their House and Senate majorities in the November elections – should be able to pass a bill and give incoming president Barack Obama an early victory.
What seems less clear is how lawmakers plan to accommodate the public-safety community’s request to exclude first responders’ 700 MHz spectrum from any DTV transition delay.
Verizon said it agreed with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) that DTV delay legislation should include a carve-out for public-safety agencies.