Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Navigation
Primary Navigation
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Top Stories
Most Popular
Secondary Navigation
Search
Search:
DTV deal would extend Verizon, AT&T licenses
Reuters - 2 hours 3 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - A proposed Senate compromise to delay the nationwide switch to digital TV would extend the licenses of AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc, which are waiting for the airwaves to be vacated when all TVs convert.
The proposal, announced late Thursday night by Democratic Sen. John Rockefeller and Republican Sen. Kay Hutchinson, would postpone the transition date to June 12 from the planned February 17, on worries that consumers are not ready.
It would also allow consumers with expired coupons, made available by the government to offset the cost of a $40 converter box, to request new ones. The government ran out of coupons earlier this month and about 2.5 million Americans are on a waiting list for them.
Many lawmakers fear an estimated 20 million mostly poor, elderly and rural households are not ready for the congressionally mandated switch, requiring owners of older television sets receiving over-the-air signals to buy a converter box or subscribe to cable or satellite TV.
The companies, which paid $16 billion for the public airwaves in an auction last year, would get 116 extra days on their licenses under the proposed legislation, expected to move to the Senate floor next week.
CTIA, the wireless trade association, has said a delay could hurt confidence in the FCC's spectrum auctions.
Momentum had been building for a delay since President Barack Obama backed it earlier this month.
One company definitely not happy about a delay is Qualcomm Inc, which bought public spectrum from the government for about $550 million to roll out a mobile video service.
The company wants an exception for two channels in the four big markets where they have not rolled out their service yet -- Boston, Miami, Houston and San Francisco.
But such an exception is not in the proposed compromise.
"We're pushing our request pretty hard," said Len Lauer, Qualcomm's chief operating officer said. "We feel we paid a lot of money for this spectrum ... Congress set a date and suddenly they want to pull the rug out."
Email Story
IM Story
Printable View
Blog This
Recommend this article
Average (0 votes)
Sign in to recommend this article »
Most Recommended Stories »
Related Articles: Technology
'Obameter' keeps track of Obama campaign promisesAFP - 1 hour 38 minutes ago
DTV deal would extend Verizon, AT&T licensesReuters - 2 hours 3 minutes ago
Encyclopaedia Britannica to let readers edit contentAFP - Saturday, January 24
Pope on YouTube fails to excite web surfersAFP - Saturday, January 24
German chipmaker Qimonda files for insolvencyAFP - Saturday, January 24
Enlarge Photo
A customer holds a LCD TV at the K-Mart store in Burbank, California November 28, 2008. REUTERS/Fred Prouser
Most Popular – Technology
Viewed
World crisis deepens as downturn bites in Asia
Obama retakes oath of office
'Dogs don't wear condoms,' says Baywatch star Anderson
Obama steps up anti-recession offensive
US unemployment spikes, housing crisis deepens
View Complete List »
Search:
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Top Stories
Most Popular