2009 Digital TV Conversion

Digital TV is Coming?

DTV, HDTV, OFF-AIR, OVER THE AIR,
ANALOG TV, CONVERTER BOX, SD, HD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What does this all mean?
What does it mean to you and me?

Well the answers are a lot simpler that what you may think. The fact is our federal government is changing things, it's not a republican or democrat thing though, and the news media has offered techy reporting of this event, which has been difficult and confusing to understand. The FCC (Federal Communication Commission) a few years back decided to sell the radio frequencies that antenna type television is broadcasted over, which you may receive through an antenna/tower at your house.
Now don't be alarmed, the FCC is not stopping the channels completely, just changing the way you can receive the channels, read below.

What exactly will happen?

IF YOU ARE USING AN ANTENNA/TOWER TO RECEIVE YOUR TELEVISION SERVICE, YOU WILL BE AFFECTED BY THE DIGITAL TELEVISION CONVERSION ON FEBRUARY 17th, 2009.

IF YOU HAVE A SERVICE THAT PROVIDES YOUR LOCAL CHANNELS (ABC, NBC, CBC, FOX, PBS), LIKE; CABLE SERVICE, OR SATELLITE SERVICE OR IF YOU ALREADY OWN A DIGITAL TYPE TELEVSION, OR A DIGITAL CONVERTER BOX, YOU WILL NOT BE AFFECTED.

On 02-17-09 The FCC has specified that ALL television stations MUST turn off their standard broadcast transmitters. Basically they will be turning off the way most of us have received television service for many years.

What will you need to do?

Well, if you have cable service, or satellite, a digital to analog converter box, or a digital television, you WILL NOT need to buy a new television. YOU WILL NOT BE AFFECTED BY THIS AT ALL! YOU WILL NEED TO DO NOTHING!

If you ONLY use an antenna/tower, you WILL need to either buy a digital converter box or a new digital television. The converter boxes are available for less than $100.00 and you can obtain ONE $40.00 coupon from the FCC(www.dtv.gov)
I have actually seen the converter boxes for as little as $50.00ea., and you will need one converter box for each of the TV's that you have. The converter box will hook into your existing antenna/tower and existing television set. The converter box will allow you to receive the local channels from the new digital broadcasting system.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not be fooled by a salesperson at any of the big national stores, or small stores for that matter. I have talked with some folks who were misled into believing that they HAD to buy a new TV. As a matter of fact, if you are still confused or have any addition questions please email us at multel@mintel.net .

Mulberry Cooperative Telephone Co., Inc.
765-296-2885

Glossary:
DTV - Digital broadcast television service.
HDTV - High definition digital broadcast television service(spectacular picture
Quality.)
Off-Air/Over the air - Terms used to describe the television service that has been
Analog TV broadcasted to our homes, for many years, using an
antenna/tower to receive television service.
Converter Box - This device is a Set Top Box that will be used to receive the new
digital television broadcast and convert it to your existing
television. It sits on top, or can be placed near your TV.
SD - Standard definition television service, also can be described as the definition
for analog TV.
HD - The same definition as HDTV above.