WASHINGTON-A hard nationwide date for the end of the transition to digital TV will reduce the value of the spectrum to be auctioned to the commercial wireless industry, complained John Lawson, president of the Association of Public Television Stations, as he argued for a market-by-market DTV transition.
Lawson believes the commercial wireless industry will benefit by a market-to-market approach rather than a nationwide approach by being able to test new products and services.
Lawson testified at a hearing on the DTV transition held Wednesday morning by the House telecommunications subcommittee.
Estimates of how much revenue would be generated by spectrum auctions may not even cover the amount of a proposed subsidy for digital set-top boxes so that TVs currently receiving free analog broadcast signals could receive digital signals, said Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.).
