Timing of DTV Transition and Comcast Digital Expansion Unrelated

Comcast spokesman Jim Hughes called me this morning to clarify that the cable company's expansion of of its digital network has nothing to do with the federally-mandated DTV transition broadcasters made on June 13.

I posted yesterday that I have had to install two Digital Transport Adapters (aka converter boxes) to restore TV service and suspected the timing had some connection (pun not intended) to the DTV transition.

Hughes says the installation of DTAs was precipitated bythe addition of a half dozen new channels and transitioning 12 analog channels to its digital network. Only its basic service remains on its analog network. I was part of a five town transition that just happened to occur at the same time as the DTV mandate.

I lost some HD channels in the process and indeed, Hughes confirmed, there is no HD with DTAs. The first two DTA boxes are free.

"[The DTV transition and requirement to install DTAs] coincided in time, but are unrelated," he says. "A single analog channel takes as much bandwidth as 10-12 digital channels." Also driving Comcast's digital expansion are rising popularity of OnDemand programming, DVR and fierce competition from Verizon's FIOS network.

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This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com