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GAO-05-837R 1 (2005-06-20)

handle is hein.gao/gaocrptarzo0001 and id is 1 raw text is: SGAO Accountability * Integrity Reliability United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 June 20, 2005 The Honorable John D. Dingell Ranking Member Committee on Energy and Commerce The Honorable Edward J. Markey Ranking Member Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet House of Representatives Subject: Digital Television Transition: Questions on Administrative Costs of an Equipment Subsidy Program On May 26, 2005, I testified before the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet on a staff discussion draft of the DTV Transition Act of 2005.' At that time, I discussed several challenges to administering a program for subsidizing the purchase of digital converter boxes to advance the DTV transition. This letter responds to your June 9, 2005 letter requesting that we provide information on the approximate cost of various administrative steps that might be necessary to administer such a subsidy program. Specifically, your letter identifies a number of administrative steps that might be required to administer a rebate program targeted to low-income households that rely solely on over-the-air television signals, and asks us to estimate the costs of specific administrative steps. As I indicated at the hearing, estimating the specific costs of these administrative steps is difficult because of the substantial uncertainty about exactly what would be required to implement them. Your letter also notes that the administrative costs for the rebate and voucher programs that we reviewed ranged from 10 percent to 39 percent. However, as we noted in our written statement, due to differences in the scope of the rebate and voucher programs we reviewed and a potential DTV subsidy, it is not clear how applicable the administrative costs of these programs are to estimating the costs of a DTV subsidy. We recognize that the Committee desires a clear understanding of the administrative costs associated with implementing a converter box subsidy program in considering legislation to end the DTV transition on a date certain. As your letter suggests, several administrative steps would likely be taken to establish a rebate program targeting low-income households that rely solely on over-the-air television signals. Costs would be incurred to complete these administrative steps. For example, during our review, we heard from a rebate clearinghouse that it usually charges between 'GAO, Digital Broadcast Television Transition: Several Challenges Could Arise in Administering a Subsidy Program for DTV Equipment, G A005-623T (Washington, D.C.: May 26, 2005). GAO-05-837R Subsidy Administration Issues Related to the DTV Transition

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