Industry comments on the proposals are due April 6. Still, with the transition to digital TV bogged down in technical and copyright disputes as well as budget politics, Tauzin and other legislators said delays will likely force Congress to act and the FCC to create new rules to jump-start the digital transition. Under the U.S. transition plan, broadcasters would have to return their analog spectrum by 2006 if 85 percent of U.S. households could receive digital signals.
Most observers agree that the deadline is impossible to meet given the slow transition so far.