Digital TV delay back on, MediaFLO expansion halted

Wireless solutions provider Qualcomm appears resigned to postponing plans to expand its MediaFLO mobile TV footprint after the U.S. House of Representatives voted Wednesday to delay broadcast television's long-planned transition to all-digital services from Feb. 17 to June 12. The House voted 264 to 158 in favor of a delay, which offers analog television owners a four-month reprieve before broadcasters make the switch to digital service--the U.S. Senate passed similar legislation last week, and President Obama has indicated he will sign the bill as well. In a statement Wednesday, White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage said the Obama administration would "continue to work with Congress to improve the information and assistance available to American consumers in advance of June 12, especially those in the most vulnerable communities." The stimulus package before Congress includes as much as $650 million in financing for coupons to ease the transition--last month, the Nielsen Company estimated that 6.5 million households remain unprepared for the switch.

The transition to digital broadcasting frees up the 700 MHz spectrum auctioned last year by the FCC--Qualcomm spent more than $500 million acquiring eight licenses [1] in the auction, and in December, its MediaFLO USA mobile broadcast unit said [1] it planned to increase its footprint by more than 40 U.S. cities on Feb. 17, in tandem with the analog-to-digital switch.

"We are disappointed with the passage of legislation extending the DTV transition date to June 12," Qualcomm said in a statement issued Wednesday. "Due to the investments we made, we were ready for a Feb. 17 transition to provide our innovative FLO TV service nationwide immediately. We are encouraged that several congressmen and Senators who supported the delay stated that this would be a one-time delay only. In light of the fact that the legislation, as amended and finally passed by Congress, allows TV stations to transition voluntarily between now and June 12th, we cannot determine the specific impact of the final bill's passage on our MediaFLO business." Qualcomm has previously stated [2] it stands to lose "tens of millions of dollars" in the event the transition is delayed to June.

For more on the digital TV delay:
- read this New York Times article [3]