FCC needs $10 million for call centers

A last-minute funding snag could leave hundreds of thousands of residents permanently on hold when they try to reach operators at an FCC hotline intended to provide assistance with the June 12 transition to digital television signals.

With only nine days to go before the remaining 974 TV stations operating in analog go all-digital, the FCC disclosed today that it needs $10 million to ensure that 4,000 operators are available to handle inquiries through June 22.

Without the extra funding, government assistance centers -- which have received $30 million from Congress -- could be staffed at that level only for a few days after the switchover.

"It's very easy for me to envision a scenario where we would be unprepared if we don't have that money," acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps said today after an FCC meeting to review preparations for the switchover.

Call volumes are expected to be heavy. "We could go as high as a half-million calls on June 13," warned Andrew Martin, the FCC's chief information officer.

The Commerce Department has discretion to funnel part of the $90 million that its National Telecommunications and Information Administration received for DTV outreach to the FCC.

Commerce Secretary Locke is deciding whether to shift up to $10 million to the commission, meaning there would be fewer dollars on reserve for an NTIA-run coupon program that helps consumers buy equipment to keep older sets operational.

The FCC call centers were caught off guard May 21 when 125 broadcasters temporarily stopped their analog transmissions to spur unprepared viewers into action, resulting in a record 55,000 inquiries.

But even more worrisome, said Commissioner Robert McDowell, is that some had to wait up to 30 minutes for assistance and there was a high rate of drop-off calls.

Despite extensive planning, FCC regulators warned of other disruptions.

Thirty-five full-power stations can't afford to upgrade due to financial problems, and several might go dark. Reception remains a challenge as consumers discover they sometimes can't receive digital signals, which don't reach as far as analog ones.

"We're never going to get this exactly right," Copps acknowledged during the FCC meeting. "No one knows what will happen on June 12."

Nielsen Media Research estimates 3.1 million households, or 2.7 percent of the population, are not ready for the digital era. Some vulnerable populations lag further, with 5.4 percent of African-Americans, 5 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds and 4.7 percent of Hispanics unprepared, according to Nielsen.

Individual markets also are struggling, led by Albuquerque-Santa Fe, N.M., where 8.4 percent of households still rely on analog; Dallas-Ft. Worth (6.37 percent); Phoenix (4.91 percent); Austin, Texas (4.81 percent) and Tulsa, Okla. (4.69 percent). The presence in these markets of low-power and translator stations that will continue operating in analog, coupled with difficulties conducting outreach to non-English-speaking viewers, are among the reasons why these and other cities have fallen behind.