Everyone has seen the television ads. "Get a converter box, and everything will be fine." Unfortunately this is untrue for about 15% of Americans who live in rural and mountainous areas. People in these areas have enough trouble getting analog signal because of the obstructing mountains. What the government is failing to express is that residents of towns such as Idaho City may be out of luck when February 17th rolls around.
The problem in Idaho City is that, even with converter boxes, antenna televisions cannot pick up the new digital signal because of the mountains which block and bounce the signals away. The town does have a small local cable company. The problem remains. Even cable companies, with their larger antennas, still cannot pick up a digital signal if the signal is being hindered by mountains and rough terrain. The same case is true for many Western areas that have lower populations and higher mountains.
So, what happens on February 17th when the switch happens? Thousands of people, even with converter boxes, are going to come home from work, flip on the TV, and find themselves with a blank screen. How is digital a better form of technology if it isn't even capable of reaching so many Americans? Why should it be mandated? These are all questions that Idaho City residents, and many others, must think about every day, and unfortunately there are no good answers. There is also no way for these residents to think about satellite television. There are no big satellite providers in the area. The local cable company has several dishes, and can offer subscribers some satellite channels, but no local ones. The cable company can't do much, because any rate increase would break the backs of residents, many of which are on fixed incomes. There doesn't seem to be a solution anywhere to be found.
It is true that the majority of people are not going to be affected by the switch. The switch will provide better quality pictures without any cost except for the converter box for those with older analog television sets. People who have cable or satellite, for the most part, do not need to worry at all. For many, who have analog sets without cable or satellite, this is a great time to consider getting more channels.
Satellite users will not be affected on February 17. All stations will be available clearly. Many people who still only receive local channels through an analog set do not realize how affordable satellite providers really are.
Perhaps through this forced conversion, people will begin to open their eyes to the benefits, which can be had in subscribing to satellite TV through a company such as Direct TV. Service is affordable, with many different channel packages starting from only about $30 per month. That's a reasonable rate-less than most phone bills. Using DirecTV satellite television, one can be assured that, rain or shine, on February 17th, TV will be available.
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