Anchorage Daily News

People wanting coupons to offset the cost of buying digital converter boxes needed to keep watching TV through rabbit ear antennas next year can now apply for them if they have a post office box or live in nursing homes, the federal Department of Commerce recently announced.

While once unable to have the coupons delivered to PO boxes, applicants can now request two of them through the normal application process. Residents of nursing homes or assisted living facilities will have to provide the address of the facility.

The coupons are worth $40 each and can be used to buy selected converter boxes that will allow viewers using antennas to continue receiving the signal once all broadcasts go digital in February, as federal law requires.

Cable subscribers and those who have some newer television models do not need to worry about the switch.

Coupons expire 90 days after they are mailed and only one coupon can be used to buy each eligible box. The boxes range in price from $45 to $80. Coupons can be requested until March 31 or until supplies run out.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration has sent out 26.7 million of the coupons to all U.S. households since Congress approved the $1.5 billion program.

For more information about the digital switch, go to www.dtv.gov.

Find James Halpin online at adn.com/contact/jhalpin or call him at 257-4589.

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