AFTER a five-month delay, the final deadline for the switch from analog to digital television has arrived. But as many as three million Americans will be without access to television. All major TV stations in the US began transfer from analogue to digital on Friday. Millions of Americans are waiting to see the effect of the move on their TV sets. Maggie Reardon, senior writer for CNET news said, Quality. Choice. I mean youre going to have more - basically, youre going to get more for free than you ever have before, and its going to be better than its ever been before for people who can get the signal. The digital transition has been delayed several times. Congress postponed the initial time-frame when reports suggested millions of households were unprepared for the switch. Maggie Reardon said,What probably has been confusing for consumers is they dont know what that means. They dont know if it affects them, and if it does affect them, theyre not really quite sure what they need to do. Call centers have been set up to handle questions about the transition. In the meantime, the first encounters may notice some weak signals, or blank screens. Thats because broadcast stations can switch their transmissions on their own schedules. Virtually all stations are expected to have completed the switch by Saturday morning. The switch to all-digital broadcasting frees up parts of the broadcast spectrum for public safety communications. And some of the spectrum will be auctioned to companies that will be able to provide consumers with more advanced wireless services. - CCTV