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| One Week to Go Until DTV Transition |
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June 5, 2009
INDIANAPOLIS –With one week to go before the transition to digital broadcast television (DTV), Congressman André Carson today encouraged residents to stop by local community events this weekend organized to help people prepare for the switch-over.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration have set up Mobile Assistance Centers (MACs) in the
“Television is more than just a medium for entertainment—it’s a vital communications tool that plays a key role in keeping our community informed and safe, especially when the threat of severe weather is involved,”
Recent reports state that
The MAC schedule for the
· Friday (today), June 5, 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
· Saturday, June 6, 11 am-2pm
Lafayette Square Mall
Corner of
· Saturday, June 6, 5 p.m.-8 p.m.
College Park 14 Cinemas
3535
· Sunday, June 7, 3 p.m.-6 p.m.
Hamilton Town Center Mall
NOTE: Converter boxes will not be available for pick up at the MACs. Residents can apply for the coupon at the MAC and they will receive it in the mail within a few weeks. All converter boxes will need to be purchased at participating local retailers.
More on DTV transition
Nielson released data last month that showed
To help struggling households defray the costs of the digital converter boxes, the Congressman has encouraged qualifying residents to take advantage of the Department of Commerce’s TV Converter Box Coupon Program, which provides $40 coupons to cover most of the cost of the set-top boxes. So far, more than 55 million coupons have been used nationwide.
Anyone who has television service through a cable company or satellite provider is ready for the transition—all signal conversion will be handled by their provider.
Only households that rely on free, over-the-air TV and use “rabbit ears” or a rooftop antenna to receive a signal need to take additional measures to be ready for DTV. These households have three choices to prepare for the transition:
1) subscribe to cable, satellite or Internet-protocol-based TV service;
2) purchase a television with a digital tuner; or
3) buy a converter box which plugs into your analog TV and will convert the signal to digital.
Residents can purchase the set-top box at a partnering retail store, all of which are listed on the official DTV Web site, www.DTV2009.gov. The Web site, set up by the Department of Commerce as a clearing house of information about the DTV transition, also allows people to apply for coupons and find the closest retail location to them to make their converter box purchase.
For those without Internet access, there are two toll-free numbers available to provide information about DTV:
· 1-888-DTV-2009 – This number should be used to apply for coupons and locate nearby partnering retailers.
· 1-888-CALL-FCC – Residents who have more general questions about the DTV transition and the steps they need to take should call this number.
In February, Congressman Carson went to the floor of the House to encourage his colleagues to delay the DTV transition. That delay was passed and signed into law. Since then, the Obama Administration has worked with Congress to proactively push education on DTV and set aside money under the Recovery and Reinvestment Act to allow the Department of Commerce to help more Americans with the transition so they can continue to receive important local television news and emergency information.
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