WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, on Wednesday received a letter from Department of Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez that says legislation would allow the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to “immediately resume timely distribution of coupons” without having to delay the Feb. 17 transition date.

The letter says that according to Nielsen, in January 2008, there were 14.3 million over-the-air households. As of Jan. 13, 2009, more than 13.5 million households who certified themselves as over-the-air reliant had received coupons, meaning approximately 800,000 over-the-air households do not yet have coupons. However, NTIA data released in the letter show that of the 1.2 million households on the coupon waiting list, approximately half are over-the-air reliant, leaving roughly 200,000 over-the-air households who have yet to apply for a converter box coupon.

A copy of the letter can be found here.