LAWMAKERS CALL FOR INFLEXIBLE ANALOG-TV CUT-OFF DATE

The former chairman of the House Telecommunications Subcommittee vowed Wednesday not to allow any further delay in the national switch from analog to digital broadcasts, now scheduled to be completed by Feb. 17, 2009. Michigan Congressman Fred Upton was joined by current Vice Chairman Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania in underscoring the need to turn the current analog channels over to emergency workers, pointing out that the deaths of New York firefighters on 9/11 might have been avoided had they had access to the broadcast frequencies. (That would have depended on where the transmitters were located; most of New York's TV transmitters were located atop the World Trade Center.)

29/03/2007