WASHINGTON-In a change to his previously proposed bill, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) wants to move up by two years the date that broadcasters must give back the extra spectrum they were given for the transition to digital TV to the original date of Jan. 1, 2007.
“After watching citizens suffer during recovery efforts in New Orleans, I believe this date should be moved up to Jan. 1, 2007, as originally contemplated by Congress,” said McCain., former chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, noting that the federal government, three surrounding parishes and the city of New Orleans all used different public-safety radio systems.
In June, McCain introduced what he described as compromise legislation that would have given broadcasters an extra two years to complete the DTV transition. In July, the National Association of Broadcasters, which consistently has tried to delay the spectrum transfer, said it was willing to support-or at least accept-a 2009 hard date.
Congress had been expected to consider a hard date for the DTV transition as part of the 2006 budget reconciliation process, but the budget appears to have been put on hold in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Sensing another slip, the Association of Public-safety Communications Officials International stepped up its lobbying effort by sending a letter to all members of Congress urging that Congress finish the DTV hard date legislation this year.
“While we are still gathering specifics, the Katrina disaster demonstrates once again the critical need for robust, interoperable radio communications for public-safety personnel. Congress can help by ensuring that public-safety agencies have the communications tools they need, including sufficient radio spectrum and the funding to construct and maintain state-of-the-art interoperable communications systems,” wrote APCO President Gregory Ballentine. “With only three months left in the first session of the 109th Congress, APCO urges Congress to set first-responder communications as a top priority in their agenda. Don’t let another session end without a clear resolution to help improve first-responder interoperable communications.”
In 1997, Congress said that in 2007, broadcasters would have to return the extra 6 megahertz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band given to TV broadcasters to facilitate the DTV transition. But TV broadcasters could keep the spectrum if more than 15 percent of the homes in their viewing areas could not receive digital signals. Removing the caveat has become known as establishing a hard date and has been encouraged widely by the wireless industry, which wants access to some of the spectrum.
