The Federal Communications Commission will seek more information from television broadcasters, cable operators and electronics manufacturers about their efforts to speed the transition to digital signals, according to a letter released on Thursday.

The agency plans to ask how broadcasters are using a swath of airwaves they were given to air digital programming, on what cable systems digital signals are being carried, and what more needs to be done to ensure television sets can receive the digital signals.

The requests for information will help "assess the impact of past policy initiatives and to inform our future efforts in this area," FCC Chairman Michael Powell said in an April 29 letter to the U.S. Congress released on Thursday.

About a year ago Powell proposed a series of steps to kick start the transition to digital signals by broadcast television stations because the move had become bogged down over what steps should be taken first and by whom.

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