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 SEPARATE  STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  MICHAEL  J.  COPPS 
 Re:  In  the  Matter  of  Review  of  the  Commission’s  Rules  and  Policies  Affecting  the  Conversion  To  Digital  Television,  MB  Docket  No.  00-  39 


 This  second  item  of  the  day  reiterates  the  commitment  of  this  Commission  to  accelerate  the  country’s  transition  to  digital  television.  I  support  the  item  because  I 
 believe  it  is  a  necessary  step  toward  realizing  our  statutory  obligations  with  regard  to  DTV. 


 Let  me  say  at  the  outset  that  I  am  altogether  aware  of  the  concern  that  has  been  expressed  over  the  initial  impact  a  DTV  tuner  requirement  could  have  on  consumer 
 prices.  Far  from  turning  a  blind  eye  to  valid  consumer  concerns  by  supporting  this  item,  I  believe  that  the  action  that  we  take  today  will  make  DTV  sets  affordable  for  all 
 consumers  more  quickly  than  would  be  possible  without  today’s  Commission  action.  History  indicates,  and  some  of  the  major  manufacturers  agree,  that  the  costs  of 
 incorporating  DTV  tuners  into  televisions  set  should  fall  fairly  rapidly  as  all  sets  include  these  tuners.  In  addition,  the  five  year  phase-  in  schedule  does  not  require  the  smallest 
 and  least  expensive  sets  to  include  tuners  until  2007,  by  which  time  the  cost  of  this  technology  will  no  doubt  be  dramatically  reduced.  So  the  phased-  in  requirement  we 
 adopt  today,  rather  than  increasing  the  costs  of  sets,  should  significantly  reduce  the  costs  of  DTV  technology,  which  we  hope  and  expect  will  ameliorate  what  might  otherwise  be 
 significant  consumer  “sticker  shock.”  Additionally,  those  of  us  who  purchase  new  sets  between  now  and  2007  won’t  have  to  go  out  right  after  2007,  when  these  relatively  new 
 receivers  are  still  performing  well,  and  buy  another  set  in  order  to  receive  digital  programming.  That  would  be  sticker  shock,  too. 


 There  is  no  question  that  DTV  is  the  wave  of  the  future:  Congress  has  mandated  the  return  of  analog  spectrum  and  the  transition  to  digital  broadcasting;  this  Commission 
 and  its  Chairman  are  committed  to  moving  the  transition  forward;  and  there  are  already  some  400  stations  across  the  country  broadcasting  digital  signals.  But  the  high  price  and 
 scarcity  of  DTV-  capable  receivers  that  are  on  the  market  now  are  not  consistent  with  realizing  the  Congressional  goal  of  transitioning  to  digital  television  at  such  time  as  85% 
 of  homes  have  digital  reception  capability.  Each  time  a  consumer  purchases  an  analog-only  set,  we  move  further  from  reaching  that  85%  and  further  away  from  the 
 Congressional  objective. 
 The  acknowledgement  by  some  manufacturers  that  a  DTV  tuner  phase-  in  requirement  such  as  the  one  established  in  the  Order  is  reasonable  and  doable  is  a  great 
 boon  to  our  efforts  here.  In  addition,  the  rolling  phase-  in  requirement  provides  manufacturers  with  the  flexibility  to  reach  the  goal  post  on  a  faster  schedule.  Although 
 manufacturers  will  not  be  required  to  fully  complete  the  phase-  in  until  2007,  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  them  from  taking  advantage  of  manufacturing,  technological,  or  other 
 advances  that  might  arise  over  the  course  of  the  schedule  that  would  allow  manufacturers  to  incorporate  DTV  tuners  into  more  sets  sooner. 
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 The  bottom  line  is  that  we  must  get  the  DTV  transition  back  on  track.  I  believe  this  Order  is  a  good  step  in  the  right  direction. 
 Finally,  I  wish  to  emphasize  that  this  Order  is  by  no  means  the  end  of  the  process.  With  some  70%  of  U.  S.  households  subscribing  to  cable  television  services,  we  must 
 quickly  address  cable  compatibility  issues  for  the  digital  transition  to  succeed.  Ideally  a  solution  on  those  issues  would  track  the  time-  frames  established  in  today’s  Order. 
 Consumers  deserve,  and  must  have,  that  kind  of  certainty.  I  understand  that,  from  a  technical  standpoint,  this  may  be  a  bit  farther  from  resolution  than  the  digital  broadcast 
 tuner.  But  I  hope  the  players  can  speed  up  their  progress  on  the  cable  compatibility  issues,  and  I  look  forward  to  working  with  my  colleagues,  the  industry,  and  all  interested 
 stakeholders  to  resolve  those  problems  as  soon  as  possible. 
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