OFFICE OF TH E CHAI R MAN FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION WASHINGTON November 16, 2009 The Honorable Leonard Lance U.S. House ofRepresentatives 114 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Congressman Lance: Thank you for your letter regarding the difficulties some ofyour constituents are having with the switch to digital television. I appreciate and share your concern about these problems, and want to assure you that we are continuing to work to explore remedies to help fill in coverage gaps to the extent technically feasible. As you know, there are many different factors that can impact digital television reception, including equipment, terrain, trees, building and weather. Many ofthese factors are outside of the control ofthe Commission, but we continue to assist consumers directly by providing them specific information on the expected reception at their location. In other situations, we are working with the broadcast stations directly to determine ifthere are steps the broadcaster can take to improve reception for its viewers. We have received the specific information for the four constituents that have contacted your office with reception issues. Staff in the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau contacted your constituents directly in order to see ifthere are any additional steps they can take to improve their reception. Please feel free to forward any other DTV-related issues to the FCC's Office of Legislative Affairs, and they will provide additional assistance. While I assure you that we will do all that we can to assist your constituents, please keep in mind that in some cases consumers may not be able to continue to rely on over-the-air signals for their television service. Due to the differences between the analog and digital technologies, for these consumers, there may not be a short-term solution, and alternative paid-service providers such as cable or satellite may be options for them. Long-term solutions such as modifications to existing full-power TV stations and/or new translator stations also are possible, but would be steps that the local broadcast stations would have to take. I hope that this information has been helpful. Please let me know ifI can be of any further assistance. ely, • Julius Genachowski Chairman