If you're one of the millions who waited until now to request a federal coupon to pay for a DTV converter box, consider yourself on the waiting list.

In fact, don't even expect to see a voucher in the mailbox before the switchover takes place next month... at least that's the latest word from the Commerce Department as reported by AP. Apparently, the $1.34 billion funding limit maxed out, thus the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), a branch of the Commerce Department, put a waiting list in effect on Sunday. Unfortunately, 103,000 requests are already on the list, and those currently on the list will only receive a voucher if one goes unclaimed and expires. The NTIA is urging consumers go out and purchase a converter box for at least one television set, and not wait for a voucher.

Although Congress set the voucher rules and the overall spending limit, it could also inject more funds into the program or raising the $1.34 billion cap. Currently Congress will not allow the NTIA to commit more than the current spending limit; this "pool" includes vouchers already promised and not mailed out, coupons already used towards a purchase, and unexpired coupons that are in the mail and not yet redeemed. Congress could actually alter this "pool" of rules, but as of this writing, that's not happening.

Edward Markey, D-Mass., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, seemed rather irate in an interview held earlier today. "The NTIA has left us with precious little time to respond to the cash crunch." According to Markey, he is currently working on a bipartisan legislation to waiver the accounting rules set forth by Congress, thus freeing up "tens of millions of dollars." The bill would ultimately buy Congress a few extra weeks to figure out how to handle the program's funding roadblock.

Sen. John Rockefeller, D-W.Va., the incoming chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, seemed to be just as annoyed with the whole program. He agrees that Congress needs to do address the situation quickly. "The change to digital television is just weeks away, and today we learn that the Bush Administration's approach to nickel-and-dime efforts aimed at making this conversion easier on consumers is flat broke. The failure to protect consumers is simply astounding."

The NTIA claims that more than 24 million households requested over 46 million coupons (abiding by the 2 per household limit it seems), however consumers thus far have only redeemed 18 million of those coupons. The group predicts that roughly 351,000 coupons will expire -those coupons left unredeemed- each week through the Feb. 17 transition. 495,000 coupons will expire weekly until the middle of March, with 655,000 coupons expiring weekly in the last portion of the month.

The NTIA's original intent of the voucher program was to make the transition from analog to digital broadcast easy, especially for those households with low incomes and rely on over-the-air broadcasts. Consumers can apply the $40 vouchers towards any analog-to-digital television converter, however those with HDTVs more than likely already have the digital receiver built-in. The NTIA said that coupon requests rocketed within the last six weeks while TV broadcasters, satellite and cable providers saturated their channels with information and warnings about next month's transition.

The process of switching the public from analog to digital may be a difficult one, especially for those not savvy in the technological aspect. According to Nielsen Co., 6.8 percent of the 114 million U.S. households are not ready for the transition. Unfortunately, consumers cannot avoid the mandated conversion from analog to digital TV. Once broadcasters switch over to digital, the FCC plans to grab all the freed airwaves and launch a public Internet access as well as auction off unused bandwidths. Those who did not purchase a converter box will no longer receive broadcast signals.

Consumers currently subscribed to satellite TV and cable will not need a converter box.

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