Don't be fooled into thinking that national security and the spectrum needs of first responders are the only forces swirling about in the dtv transition debates. Scott Fulton of Tom's Hardware News focused on the testimony of Kyle McSlarrow, President and CEO of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association to show where some of the real quicksand lies.

"...the panelists sidestepped the national security issue entirely, and instead focused on the principal roadblock facing their industry today: the implications of extending the so-called "must-carry" provision into the digital era--whenever that begins. Established in 1992, the provision mandates that every cable TV (CATV) provider must carry the signal of each of the over-the-air broadcasters that designates itself as "must-carry," within the provider's service area. As the digital TV era begins, the amount of bandwidth consumed by each broadcast signal should increase. But on top of that expansion, broadcasters are increasing the capacity of their signal by adding multicast channels--extra content transmitted in parallel. If the must-carry provision still holds after the DTV changeover date, CATV and satellite providers may not be able to afford the extra bandwidth, as Kyle McSlarrow, President and CEO of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, argued before the panel.

One solution, argued McSlarrow, is to enable cable operators to downconvert some digital broadcasters' DTV signals to analog resolution, and to let those operators foot the bill. Downconversion might be necessary anyway to enable existing TV sets to display programming after the conversion date. "But instead of embracing this solution," McSlarrow testified, "the broadcasters continue to ask you [Congress] for special favors," in the form of special allowances and perhaps even subsidies to fund the transition.

"The most plausible interpretation," McSlarrow continued, "is that the broadcasters hope to goad the cable industry into joining them in their passiveaggressive opposition to a hard [transition] date. Perhaps a more charitable interpretation is that they view this as one more opportunity to make a land grab. In any event, they are making your task harder, not easier..."

The ride to the land of new spectrum is going to be bumpier than most first responders anticipated.