DTV Redo: Senate Passes Latest Bill Making Switch Voluntary For Broadcasters

The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a second bill on Thursday that would allow broadcasters to drop their analog signals on Feb. 17 as originally planned — or not. The first bill passed on Monday would require all broadcasters to wait until June 12 to move over to the digital signals exclusively, but the House squashed the plan by voting against the bill earlier this week. As a compromise, Reuters reported that the Senate modified the bill, so that the delay would be voluntary and TV stations could go ahead with switch if they wanted. The measure will now goes back to the House.

The delay is intended to give people, who receive TV over the air and don’t have a newer TV, more time to get up to speed. But a voluntary switch makes for an odd compromise. Is the Senate hoping in that scenario that people would at least get some of their channels? Whatever the case, this may be good news for Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM), which is eagerly waiting for the spectrum to clear so that it can launch mobile TV in several high-profile markets. If the switch doesn’t occur as planned, Qualcomm’s cost may soar since they are paying broadcasters a fee for vacating the airwaves early. The longer they have to wait, the more Qualcomm will have to pay.

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