Verizon Completes Digital Upgrade > Wait, what?

Wait, what?

Yes and no. If you are in TW, Comcast, OOL etc etc country you do not need to change a thing BUT use the Companies Digital boxes. If you had "Rabbit ears" you need a digital box........for your OLDER TV. I think
--
"I Don't feel Tardy"


EDIT : they are ALL doing it for bandwidth reasons

reply to HarleyYac
Yaco that's the same wording that gets me confused just like the original poster. You don't use rabbit ears to receive cable. I too was under the impression that the digital transition only affected broadcast as in over the air, not broadcast standards regardless of service.

Perhaps my confusion is between delivery of service and type of service and that there is digital service and that there is a digital type of service, something I never really though out till right now.

So for deliver of service digital would be 200, 300 type channels and on demand requiring you to have a digital converter box from the company.
For type of service it would be cable trans mission of th Digital channels like say ch2.1 and ch2.2 meaning that its still the equivalent of the Analog service and you don't need a cable box if you have a QAM Turner.

reply to WaitWhat

reply to WaitWhat
The Feb 17, 2009 FCC mandate applies solely to full power over the air TV stations (OTA). Has nothing to do directly with Cable.

That being said MSO's are working transition to full digital, or at least expand digital offering for the same reason it makes sense to do Digital OTA - it frees up spectrum.

/tom

reply to WaitWhat
I thought cable companies were required to keep sending analog signals for another 3 years after the OTA conversion to digital.

If I'm understanding this correctly after Feb 2009 all televisions without a digital tuner will require a STB in order to get cable service. No more plugging the cable directly into the coax jack on the TV.
--
Calling an illegal alien an undocumented worker is like calling a crack dealer an unlicensed pharmacist.

reply to WaitWhat
Correct. The title here is misleading. This is not mandated by the FCC

reply to Jim Gurd

reply to WaitWhat
They don't have to change--- They're not broadcasting.

However, many are changing over voluntarily for several reasons.
1) They can dump older equipment, no need to support/maintain
2) All digital, they can compress it and increase bandwidth;
3) Makes it harder to "steal" service
4) Extra revenue from STB, Cablecard fees etc
--
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." -- Benito Mussolini

reply to tschmidt

reply to tschmidt
That is correct; it only applies to OTA TV. The people writing these stories (and evidently Verizon's PR department) repeatedly get it wrong and I suspect that is on purpose. Verizon transitioning to digital only has nothing to with the OTA deadline.

Of course, someone could email Eric Rabe and set him straight...

reply to tschmidt
They have to have an analog tier, or provide one digital STB without additional cost if there is no analog on the system. Of course, you'll get the high-pressure sales pitch to 'upgrade' to a higher tier if you attempt to claim your one no-fee box...and that's the source of the Consumers Union complaint.

reply to Jim Gurd

reply to KrK
4) Extra revenue from STB, Cablecard fees etc

That should be #1.
--
Toolmaster of La Grange.

reply to Mr Anon
Hi,
Correct. I too was under the impression that in a closed system (Not over the air) Analog was good to go. It seems that from Karl's post and from the letter from VZ that this is not the case. I know for a fact that with TW we now have less than 20 channels at work with the Analog boxe.
Lee

reply to jmn1207
They all seem to be doing it read my post about TW. Their website mentions the limited Analog they have too.