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Roybal-Allard
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Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34) Spearheads Effort to Make Digital Converter Box Program Accessible to Additional Residents

Washington, Mar 24 -

Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34) recruited 26 other Members of Congress to sign and send a letter to the chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce requesting that the digital converter box coupon program be changed to allow more residents to participate.

“I am concerned that residents of single room occupancy buildings and other types of group homes have been deemed ineligible for the converter box coupon program,” Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard said. “My letter asks the Energy and Commerce Committee to direct the National Telecommunications Information Administration to extend the program to this vulnerable population. No American should be left in the dark when the digital transition occurs.”

Click here to read the full text of the letter.

By June 12, 2009, all television broadcasters will begin airing exclusively digital signals. At that time, households that rely on free, over-the-air broadcasts made available through a rooftop antenna or “rabbit ears” may go dark unless certain steps are taken. One option to prevent this from happening is to purchase a new “digital-to-analog” converter box to plug into the set. Without this device, analog television sets not connected to cable, satellite or a telephone company television service will stop working. Newer television sets larger than 27 inches – and typically purchased in the last five years – will most likely have built-in digital tuners and will not need a converter box to continue to operate after the change.

For television viewers who choose to purchase a converter box, $40 coupons are made available by Congress to defray the estimated $50- to- $60 purchase price of a “digital-to-analog” converter. The federal coupon program – operated by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration – makes available two $40 coupons per household, each of which can be used towards the purchase of a certified converter box. National retailers participating in the program include Best Buy, Circuit City, RadioShack and Wal-Mart. Households that previously requested coupons but allowed them to expire, are eligible to request a new set of coupons. The coupons expire 90 days after their mail date.

Coupons can be requested by calling 1-888-DTV-2009 or visiting http://www.dtv2009.gov.

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