Washington The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) said Wednesday it has just added two set-top digital-to-analog converter boxes from Philips to its list of coupon-eligible tuners. The two new converter boxes carry the Magnavox and Philco brands, which Philips has used for high-volume mass-oriented products. In recent years, Philco has been used primarily for limited-run truckload promotional items.

A Philips spokesperson said final pricing on the devices have not been set, and product specifications were not immediately available.

According to the NTIA, the following set-top converter boxes have approved for the government-subsidized converter-box coupon program: Magnavox TB100MW9 Philco TB150HH9 DigitalSTREAM D2A1D10 DigitalSTREAM D2A1D20 Zenith DTT900 The Coupon Program , authorized by the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005, provides for distribution and redemption of coupons that consumers may apply toward the purchase of digital-to-analog converter boxes.

Households using analog televisions will not be able to receive digital broadcasts after Feb. 17, 2009, unless the analog television is connected to a converter box that switches the digital signal to an analog format, or the analog television is connected to cable or satellite service, according to the U.S. Commerce Department s NTIA. Between Jan. 1, 2008, and March 31, 2009, all U.S.

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