DTV delay stymied, for now

While House Republicans managed to initially stifle House approval of a bill to delay the digital TV transition from Feb. 17 to June 12, Democrats who control Congress are pursuing a new strategy likely to result in passage next week of Obama-administration-backed legislation that lacks some concessions sought by wireless and public-safety sectors.
“I am very disappointed the House Republicans blocked the DTV extension . in the House,” said House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif). “Their vote has wasted valuable time and will cause needless confusion for consumers. A clear majority in Congress supports postponing the transition and providing assistance to the millions of households that are unprepared. I am working with the Obama administration and congressional leadership to explore all available options.”
The Senate recently passed a measure to postpone the DTV cutover after Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) reached a compromise with Republicans.
“One thing is clear, the outgoing Bush Administration grossly mismanaged the digital television transition and consumers are confused, households are not prepared, and the coupon program for converter boxes is broken,” Rockefeller said. While the Senate paved the way with a bipartisan bill to repair this unfortunate situation, our Republican counterparts in the House chose to stand in the way of a workable solution. Instead of delaying the transition to ensure that the most vulnerable among us have the ability to prepare for the transition, they have made certain that far too many consumers across the country will wake up on February the 18th and find that their television sets have gone dark and access to news, information, and vital emergency alerts will be unavailable. It did not have to be this way – this situation was unnecessary and avoidable.”
Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), ranking member of the House Commerce Committee, has been at the vanguard of a House GOP rebellion against the Democratic-crafted DTV delay bill. In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) after the House vote, Barton and Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), ranking member of the telecom subcommittee, offered a way forward in the form of a bill that keeps the Feb. 17 deadline intact and authorizes an additional $250 million (less than half of what Democrats are seeking) for converter-box coupons.
“Now that S. 328, the Senate’s DTV-delay bill, has failed to gain sufficient support to pass without bypassing the regular procedures of the House of Representatives, all of us have work to do,” Barton and Stearns stated. “The DTV transition program is neither stuck nor broke. There are problems, but they can be overcome with your help and a dollop of real bipartisanship.”
Despite the rhetoric by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, it is abundantly clear Democrats have the votes to get a DTV delay bill through Congress and to President Obama’s desk for his signature very shortly. The only reason the DTV bill failed in the House is because Democrats employed a parliamentary procedure typically used for non-controversial legislation in which there is no debate and a two-thirds majority is needed for quick passage. The DTV bill had enough House votes to pass, but lacked the winning two-thirds margin.
One complication is the House version of the bill is no longer identical to the Senate-passed bill because a couple of technical amendments – one relating to public safety – were made to the former measure. As such, under one plan under consideration, the Senate could immediately attempt fast-track approval of the new House version of the DTV delay bill. If such Senate action is successful, the House would take up the slightly amended DTV measure on the floor early next week under normal procedures.
Wireless waves
Earlier this month, before being sworn in as the 44th U.S. president, Barack Obama urged Congress to push back the DTV cutover because of a funding shortage and other problems.
Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility, which paid the lion’s share of the nearly $20 billion on auctioned licenses in 700 MHz spectrum being relinquished by broadcasters, were able to secure assurances from lawmakers and Obama officials that a DTV delay would not be open-ended. At the same time, the DTV delay measure does not appear to include provisions for testing 700 MHz gear prior to June 12 or provide any buildout relief.
Qualcomm Inc. failed to convince lawmakers to give it access next month to 700 MHz spectrum it bought to expand its MediaFLO USA Inc. mobile TV service in new markets.
Public-safety organizations lobbied to be exempted altogether from any DTV transition delay, but lawmakers did not provide the full carveout they requested. Instead, House and Senate bills would enable first responders to obtain greater use of 700 MHz frequencies only in cases where a TV station decides to shift to all-digital broadcasting before June 12.