12th
The Government Accountability Office has just released a report to Congress (PDF) slamming the efforts of the FCC and the NTIA to alert consumers about the upcoming transition to digital television. The report finds that, despite plenty of work done by various agencies and private organizations, “no comprehensive plan exists” to manage the entire transition.
If it’s difficult to explain the February 2009 digital TV transition to consumers, it’s doubly difficult when hundreds of different groups are involved. The GAO points out that over 160 “business, trade, grassroots, and other organizations” are involved with the Digital Television Transition Coalition. The group, which is trying to get the word out so that angry seniors don’t beat down their doors, also needs to coordinate with the two government agencies involved with the transition.
And that level of coordination demands a Plan, a Plan complete with milestones, key goals, and risk mitigation scenarios. In other words, a long and boring document. But as FCC Chairman Kevin Martin admitted in an interview with GAO auditors, the FCC has no such formal plan. Instead, said Martin, “the various orders contained in the FCC dockets amount to a plan.”
