Powell Pushes Ahead with DTV Plan

Despite a rebuke by a Senate committee last week, Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael Powell is pushing ahead with a plan to require TV stations to return their old analog channels sooner than they had expected. ¶ The Senate Commerce Committee last week voted to require only a small portion of the country’s 1,300 TV stations to return old channels early. But Powell insists the transition to digital television will take decades unless an aggressive timetable is set for every broadcaster. What matters most, he says, is that the returned channels are for police and fire departments, many of which desperately need the frequencies to revamp patchwork communications. ...¶... Powell plans to present the FCC a final version of his plan in time for a November or December vote, but for him to prevail, commissioners must dismiss the slower approach of the Commerce Committee... Broadcasting & Cable link