page_title: Coupon-eligible converter box
section_title: Implementing the program
hierarchical_section_title: Coupon-eligible converter box / History / Implementing the program
caption_attribution_description: English: A $40 coupon in the form of a bank card given out by the Federal Communications Commission and the United States Department of Commerce in order to allow analog television viewers to buy a digital converter box at a subsidized discount.
context_page_description: A coupon-eligible converter box was a digital television adapter that met eligibility specifications for subsidy "coupons" from the United States government. The subsidy program was enacted to provide over-the-air television viewers with an affordable way to continue receiving free digital over-the-air television services after the nation's television service transitioned to digital transmission and analog transmissions ceased. The specification was developed by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, with input from the broadcast and consumer electronics industries as well as public interest groups.
context_section_description: In 2006, the NTIA let people see its plan for distributing coupons and comment on it.  The plan prohibited people with cable or satellite service from requesting coupons.  In order to get two coupons, consumers had to state that they had two television sets. In an effort to limit misconduct, coupon requests would be only be taken between January 1, 2008 and March 31, 2009; each coupon would be valid for three months. The consumer-education program only had a budget of $5 million, so the companies participating in the transition would have to help.
  On March 12, 2007, the NTIA held a news conference to announce the standards for the converter boxes and the requirements for receiving coupons. With the standards established, manufacturing could begin and the NTIA could select a company to send out coupons.
  With $1.5 billion in funding, the coupons would account for only half of the 73 million analog TVs not using a pay service, including 18 million in homes having only over-the-air TV reception. The Commerce Department had no plans to make coupons available only to the poor.
  Coupons could be requested by phone, mail, or online. At first, anyone would be able to apply, even for those who had one or more TVs connected to cable or satellite.
  The NTIA set the standards for the converter box based on what manufacturers and broadcasters wanted. LG Electronics, Thomson, Samsung, and Jasco were the first companies to announce plans to make the devices. After June 1, 2007, retailers could apply to sell converter boxes. Each would have to be in the NTIA's Central Contractor Registration database, and have been in the consumer-electronics business for at least a year.
  To implement the coupon program, the Act authorized NTIA to use up to $990 million from the fund, including $100 million for program administration.  Those funds supported an initial "non-contingent" program that was available to all requesting households. NTIA was also authorized to spend up to $1.5 billion for the program (including $160 million for administration) if the initial $990 million were insufficient to fulfill the non-contingent coupon requests.  In that case, a "contingent" fund would be available for US households not serviced by cable or satellite.  If the funds were insufficient, the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate would be notified.
  An initial funding of $990 million was expected to allow all US households an opportunity to apply for the coupons, which expired 90 days after they were mailed. After that money was used up, $510 million in additional funds was available to households that stated they did not already subscribe to cable or satellite television services. Neither allotment had a means test.
  The NTIA planned to start processing coupon requests a year before the original transition date of February 17, 2009; 2.4 million people had applied for 4.7 million coupons, out of an estimated 13 million homes that still received television with an antenna.
  By the end of 2008, the New York Times said "about 40 million coupons have been requested, but to date 16 million have been redeemed, compared with an estimated 35 million televisions that will lose a signal." Institutions, such as retirement homes, were initially excluded from the program; while this was partially remedied (to allow one coupon per retirement-home resident), prisons, homeless shelters and residential hotels remained disqualified from the coupon program.
  On January 4, 2009, the NTIA began placing coupon requests on a waiting list after the program reached its maximum allowed funding.  Only after unredeemed coupons expire could new requests be fulfilled. By January 7, NTIA's waiting list included just under a million requested coupons. A week later, the list had grown to two million coupons.
  On January 7, both Consumers Union and Representative Ed Markey of Massachusetts (who headed the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee’s telecom subcommittee) advocated that the February 17, 200
caption: An example of the NTIA converter box $40 subsidy "coupon", which is in the form of a bank card that can only be used as payment for a converter box purchase.
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