Reply #137: congress should enact a short delay to allow the coupon program to resume

[onenote]

Over a million people who have applied for coupons are now stuck on a waiting list because the money has run out. The FCC only recently entered into contracts to set up call centers to handle the 1-2 million calls that they expect to get between now and Feb 17 regarding the transition. A short extension will let those who reasonably expected to get coupons to offset the cost of a converter box to obtain those coupons, purchase a box, and get it set up and properly working. It also will allow the government to get out the information that it did a really bad job of getting out up until now -- namely that you shouldn't just go get a box and then wait until the day of the actual transition to set it up. It works now and viewers relying on boxes should be setting them up now to see if they have signal reception problems etc.

A short delay isn't going to result in anyone who already is prepared being less prepared.And it won't ensure that everyone will be prepared when the hammer finally falls. But it will give those who acted in a timely fashion,but because of the coupon funding screw up or the poor information disseminated by the government, aren't going to be ready on Feb 17. The needs of those people -- well over a million of them, mostly, in all likelihood, elderly, minority, lower income -- can and should be served by a short extension.