On Feb. 17, 2009, as our country makes the switch from an analog broadcasting system to a digital one, television sets all across the country will simply stop working. In just 20 months, televisions currently receiving analog signals over the air will need additional equipment in order to receive the new digital signals. Households that are not prepared could be left in the dark, cut off from a vital source of local news and safety information.

Few Americans are aware of the upcoming nationwide transition from analog to digital broadcasting, and, to date, there is little sign that the federal agencies responsible for informing consumers have developed a plan to do so. If American households are not properly educated about the pending analog shutoff and do not take steps to prepare, we are likely to face a national uproar.

If done correctly, the DTV transition will free up spectrum that could enable public safety entities to better communicate during emergencies and usher in advanced wireless services. Additionally, with the digital format, local broadcasters will be able to broaden their programming capabilities and better serve their communities.

However, the present lack of leadership, direction and focus at the federal level on informing and preparing Americans for the analog cut off may jeopardize the entire transition. The key problem is that over the last decade the Republican majority authored DTV transition laws that satisfied budget priorities instead of protecting consumers. Legislation enacted by the last Congress under-funded the transition and spent the vast bulk of anticipated spectrum revenues on more tax cuts for the wealthy. The administration is now compounding these flaws by limiting the availability of coupons that will assist low-income households in obtaining analog-to-digital converter boxes.

If we do not begin to take action, the burden of the DTV transition will fall predominantly on poor, elderly and minority Americans. In 2005, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that 21 million homes — nearly one in five of all television-equipped households — rely on free, over-the-air broadcasts. Of these households, almost half have annual incomes of less than $30,000, and two-thirds are headed by either an individual over age 50 or a native Spanish speaker. Clearly, those expected to be most affected by the transition will also be the most difficult to reach.

It is time for the appropriate federal agencies to meet their responsibility to help educate and prepare all Americans for this potentially disruptive change in our broadcasting system. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the agency charged with ensuring a smooth digital transition, should be taking the lead. However, in a recent oversight hearing before members of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the FCC’s chairman failed to mention the transition in his prepared written testimony. The most recent budget request by the FCC seeks just $1.5 million to fund a consumer education program, which is less than the cost of a single Super Bowl ad ($2.6 million). This request is well below what will likely be required for a comprehensive education campaign targeting difficult-to-reach populations. Consider, for example, that in Germany, the city of Berlin spent almost $1 million in 2003 to educate a mere 3 million consumers on a similar transition.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is responsible for implementing a program to distribute $40 coupons that can be used to alleviate the cost of a converter box. Although the coupon program is slated to begin next January, few details have been made available and most consumers lack information about how to apply for the coupons. Furthermore, it is currently unclear whether converter boxes will be available on store shelves when consumers seek to redeem the coupons. Rather than ensuring that coupons are available to any household that needs them, the administration has signaled that after an initial funding allocation, households that go dark may be rendered ineligible for the government assistance, despite the fact that this transition is government-mandated.

We have requested that the FCC submit to Congress its full consumer education plan. We have also held an oversight hearing specifically dedicated to the state of the DTV transition, as well as oversight hearings with all five members of the FCC, and the head of the NTIA. These will not be the only steps we take to ensure the federal agencies are doing their best.

A critical deadline for our country is upon us. We cannot afford to ignore it. Nor can we continue to neglect the needs of the American public. Both government and private sector leaders have a critical role to play in educating communities and families about the DTV transition. I pledge my own best efforts. And I ask my fellow members of Congress to join me in helping our country prepare for this upcoming change.

Feb. 17, 2009, will be a notable day. Together, we can make sure it marks the beginning of a new era of enhanced broadcasting and communication and not a nationwide television blackout. We are warned. Let us act.

Dingell is the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

SPECIAL SECTION: COMMUNICATIONS

‘This is not a test’ — It is time to prepare Americans for looming DTV transition
DTV plan will help first responders, provide adequate funds for consumers
Improving public safety communications is matter of life and death in emergencies
Public safety set to benefit most from switch to digital
Broadband should be in every home
Reform USF to avert a telecommunications crisis
On the Internet and elsewhere: Technology puts you in control
Give first responders the tools they need