https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • Commentary
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • All Things IWCE
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • IWCE
    • Conference
    • Special Events
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Premier Partners
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Register for IWCE
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookies Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • Microwave/RF
    • T&D World
    • TU-Auto
  • In the field
    • Back
    • In the field
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Internet of Things
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Call Center/Command
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Network Tech
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Operations
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Regulations
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • Organizations
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
Urgent Communications
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Omdia Crit Comms Circle Podcast
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • All Things IWCE
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • UC eZines
    • Sponsored content
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • Conference
    • Why Attend
    • Exhibitor Listing
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Join the Event Mailing List
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookies Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • TU-Auto
  • newsletter
  • In the field
    • Back
    • Internet of Things
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Cybersecurity
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
acc.com

Commentary Newsletters


Procrastinators win, public safety loses

Procrastinators win, public safety loses

The inevitable happened yesterday, as House members followed the lead of their Senate colleagues by approving a four month-delay in the deadline for broadcasters to cease transmitting in analog and to begin transmitting in digital.
  • Written by Urgent Communications Administrator
  • 5th February 2009

The inevitable happened yesterday, as House members followed the lead of their Senate colleagues by approving a four month-delay in the deadline for broadcasters to cease transmitting in analog and to begin transmitting in digital. FCC Acting Chairman Michael Copps said in a statement that he welcomed the extension because it would provide “urgently-needed time for a more phased transition.” Huh? Isn’t a phased transition something that was supposed to be happening all along?

This wasn’t exactly rocket science. If you aren’t a cable or satellite customer and have an analog television, you need a converter box. If you need a converter box, the federal government said it would send you a coupon to help you pay for it. All you had to do was request one. The government even made that easy by setting up a website.

The word has been out about this for three years. Yet, all sorts of people are without converter boxes. How is this possible? How did these people miss this message? It couldn’t have been simpler. Yet, one of my best friends stands among those who have caused the DTV delay. She’s no dummy. She holds multiple degrees from prestigious universities. Despite her above-average intelligence and finely honed knowledge of current events, she waited too long and now is on the wait list for her coupon. I told her to call her cable company. She should have requested the coupon a year ago—at least.

Some would argue that my friend deserves a break because she submitted her request a couple of months prior to the original Feb. 17, 2009 deadline for broadcasters to make the transition. Certainly, a couple of months should be plenty, right? After all, the IRS is able to remit tax refunds in less time. So, as the thinking goes, my friend—and the 2 million others who are in her boat—shouldn’t be penalized for conditions outside their control.

I couldn’t disagree more. Here’s an analogy to illustrate the point: Say that you take the train to work, that the station is a 5-minute drive from your house and you leave 15 minutes prior to the train’s arrival each day, which should give you plenty of time. Which it does—until something goes wrong. Let’s now say a milk truck overturns on your route and by the time you fight your way through the bottleneck, you arrive at the train station 20 minutes late. Should the train be held for you? Would that be fair to everyone who’s on the train who need to get to their jobs? I think not. Instead, you should have factored in Murphy’s Law and not cut your schedule so close.

Another major factor in the DTV delay is that people who did plan ahead and received a coupon well in advance of the original deadline waited too long to cash them in, and now they have expired. I know people have busy lives, but they had roughly three months to redeem them once they had them in their possession. That should have been plenty of time.

Nevertheless, fairness demands that the significant role played by Congress and the FCC in this fiasco must be noted. For starters, the public never was given an idea of how long it would take to receive a coupon after a request was submitted. If those affected by the DTV transition had received such a heads up, perhaps then many—like my friend—wouldn’t have waited so long to submit their requests.

Also, the feds erred by placing an unnecessary expiration date on the coupons. And Congress failed to act after it was told by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)—the agency that is administering the converter-box program–that the $1.3 billion program nearly was out of money, a circumstance that is causing a delay in providing coupons to the Johnny-come-latelys.

So, most public-safety agencies with pending 700 MHz licenses now have to wait a bit longer to use the 24 MHz of 700 MHz airwaves that were promised to them when President George W. Bush signed the legislation, in February 2006, that established the Feb. 17 deadline for broadcasters to vacate these airwaves. The FCC reportedly is meeting today to discuss the impact of the delay on public safety, but what is the commission going to do? If the broadcasters don’t move for another four months—and it is their prerogative, thanks to the DTV-delay legislation—public safety is stuck in neutral, because there are no channels for them to move to.

While some believe broadcasters won’t wait to move, despite the extended deadline, because it is going to cost them a ton of money to transmit both analog and digital signals—even for just four months—I don’t. Rather, I believe they won’t risk losing scads of viewers that could result in a precipitous decline in advertising revenue, something the broadcasters can ill afford in an already soft advertising climate caused by the steep economic downturn. So they’ll stay put until forced to move.

Four more months doesn’t seem all that long in the grand scheme, you say? Tell that to the public-safety agencies that invested considerable money in systems that they planned to launch on Feb. 18. Some would argue that none of this really matters, because few agencies were so proactive as to be in a position to launch systems right away. That’s like telling someone they can’t board the train that’s scheduled to depart because there are no other passengers on board.

The initiative and planning exhibited by these agencies—few as they might be—stand in sharp contrast to that of the procrastinators, who effectively have derailed their efforts. That is wrong. I’ve long believed that one of the biggest problems our country has is that people all too often are not held accountable for their actions—or in this case, inactions. Congress should not have passed the legislation that extended the DTV deadline. That the procrastinators are unprepared for the transition at this date is their problem. It shouldn’t be public safety’s.

What do you think? Tell us in the comment box below.

Tags: Commentary Newsletters Policy & Law Commentary

Most Recent


  • LTE and liability: Why the fire service must move forward with digital incident command
    The grief following a firefighter line-of-duty death (LODD) is beyond words. Fellow firefighters are devastated. Families are shattered. In the aftermath, questions arise about the circumstances: Was the loss preventable? What was the chain of actions leading to the catastrophe? Central to these questions is the role of incident command (IC), the command’s situational awareness, […]
  • Partnership and collaboration must be the foundation for emergency communications
    I’m from a little town in West Texas. As a Texan, I like getting straight to the point: I believe that emergency communications are a matter of national security. Because this message is so important, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has designated this April as the first-ever Emergency Communications Month. At CISA, we […]
  • FirstNet success means no hypothetical 'shots' need to be fired, Swenson says
    As public-safety officials today commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the FirstNet Authority being created, the deployment of the FirstNet nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN) has proceeded well enough that no one needs to face a firing squad, according to former Authority board Chair Sue Swenson. “Save it for another time,” Swenson said during a recent […]
  • Show support for law enforcement on National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day
    This coming Sunday, January 9th, is National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day—a well-deserved day to thank and show support to law-enforcement officers for their dedication to duty and service to their local communities, as well as protecting the people who live and work in the communities. On behalf of L3Harris, a Florida-based company that provides critical […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

To leave a comment login with your Urgent Comms account:

Log in with your Urgent Comms account

Or alternatively provide your name, email address below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • Unlocking the power of ESInets: Different NG911 provisioning approaches exist; level of control is key differentiator
  • Redefining communications for today’s mobile workforces
  • Bridging digital divide by fostering digital inclusion and economic recovery
  • Public safety needs a better way to triage emergency calls

Commentary


LTE and liability: Why the fire service must move forward with digital incident command

  • 2
6th May 2022

Partnership and collaboration must be the foundation for emergency communications

18th April 2022

FirstNet success means no hypothetical ‘shots’ need to be fired, Swenson says

22nd February 2022
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


UrgentComm

Sesame Solar leverages mobile solar, hydrogen to power efforts beyond the grid dlvr.it/ST8m3K

1st July 2022
UrgentComm

Newscan: On front lines, communications breakdowns prove costly for Ukraine dlvr.it/ST7fnC

30th June 2022
UrgentComm

China-backed APT pwns building-automation systems with ProxyLogon dlvr.it/ST6q7m

30th June 2022
UrgentComm

Samsung fills its 2G hole in new challenge to Ericsson and Nokia dlvr.it/ST6hBK

30th June 2022
UrgentComm

Militarized drone swarms coming dlvr.it/ST6dNz

30th June 2022
UrgentComm

Take American City & County’s budgeting survey dlvr.it/ST6Yxb

30th June 2022
UrgentComm

Final cases made about Airwave, ESN, before CMA issues provisional decision on Motorola Solutions dlvr.it/ST4Q6X

29th June 2022
UrgentComm

Polaris Wireless: Manlio Allegra talks 911 Z-axis tech, future IoT opportunities dlvr.it/ST1384

28th June 2022

Newsletter

Sign up for UrgentComm’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about Communications and Technology.

Expert Commentary

Learn from experts about the latest technology in automation, machine-learning, big data and cybersecurity.

Business Media

Find the latest videos and media from the market leaders.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital and print audiences? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • American City & County
  • IWCE
  • Light Reading
  • IOT World Today
  • Mission Critical Technologies
  • Microwave/RF
  • T&D World
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2022 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X