Those of us who have been on cable or satellite connections for our TV service for many years can easily forget that a lot of people still watch TV the old-fashioned way, from signals coming through the air from a nearby TV tower. In just about a year and half, all those TVs will stop working because Congress has mandated a switch to digital TV. The old TVs will need a converter box that is able to pick up the new digital over the air signals.
Nationwide, it adds up to tens of millions of viewers. In the end, it is time to make the switch. The change will free up radio frequency spectrum that can be used for improved public safety communications systems, and other portions of the spectrum will be able to provide broadband services at much longer distances than systems can provide now (at relatively low bandwidth). The new data services will provide better coverage for mobile devices and fewer towers will be needed.