When the original deadline was set, it was set in the context of a growing economy, not one that's collapsing around our ears. The notion that $50 for a conversion box might actually become an item out of reach of a significant number of the population was genuinely not considered realistic - indeed, the voucher system was devised not as a form of welfare for the old and needy, but as compensation from those damned phone companies for "forcing" people to upgrade their TVs by buying 700MHz spectrum.
The voucher supply has run dry. A significant part of the population will not be able to afford to go digital by next month.
Meanwhile the benefit is supposed to be that some phone companies might be able to start practicing rolling out an LTE network, though no-one seriously expects any LTE networks to go commercial this year because of the early state of the standard. And nobody's planning to use the spectrum for anything else either. So, actually, all of that spectrum that's going to be freed up is going dark until some time mid-2010 at the earliest. It's not going to be used.
This really isn't "common sense" in any practical way. If the spectrum's not going to be used, and people are having trouble upgrading to digital, why are we in such a rush to switch off analog?
“An engineer explained to us that hundreds of ear impressions were gathered in the name of research, and while each one obviously boasted its own unique shape and size, one single characteristic remained uniform across the board: the entrance into the ear canal is not a perfect circle, it's an oval.”
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Wow..........common sense wins out.
Sadly, as happy as I am for this......why oh WHY did they waste it on this?
Do you know how long it takes for politicians to stockpile this stuff?
Not only that, Obama may just veto it.
Obama is the one first requested the delay.
thats why he would veto this
When the original deadline was set, it was set in the context of a growing economy, not one that's collapsing around our ears. The notion that $50 for a conversion box might actually become an item out of reach of a significant number of the population was genuinely not considered realistic - indeed, the voucher system was devised not as a form of welfare for the old and needy, but as compensation from those damned phone companies for "forcing" people to upgrade their TVs by buying 700MHz spectrum.
The voucher supply has run dry. A significant part of the population will not be able to afford to go digital by next month.
Meanwhile the benefit is supposed to be that some phone companies might be able to start practicing rolling out an LTE network, though no-one seriously expects any LTE networks to go commercial this year because of the early state of the standard. And nobody's planning to use the spectrum for anything else either. So, actually, all of that spectrum that's going to be freed up is going dark until some time mid-2010 at the earliest. It's not going to be used.
This really isn't "common sense" in any practical way. If the spectrum's not going to be used, and people are having trouble upgrading to digital, why are we in such a rush to switch off analog?
@Byrdman
Obama can't veto a bill it if didn't pass.
@Byrdman,
Can you run your logic one more time?
Besides, no matter how many times you delay it, those who didn't get the converter box will still not getting it until he/she is forced to.