Thousands of people in Colorado and elsewhere may soon have dark television screens because aging devices that relay signals to rural areas will stop working after the nationwide switch to digital television.

The devices are TV translators, which rebroadcast stations' programming to areas outside their reach. Unless they are upgraded to digital service, they won't work.

R. Ken Parsons, vice president of the National Translator Association, told The Denver Post that about 40 percent of translators nationwide will stop working.

The Federal Communications Commission says more than 4,000 licensed translators are operating in the United States. Parsons estimates another 2,000 are operating without a license.

The government is offering $1,000 grants for translator upgrades, which would cover about a third of the cost of converting a translator to receive digital signals. An upgrade to also broadcast digital signals costs more.

"I don't really think people fully appreciate how big a problem this is going to be," Parsons said.

The digital switch was planned for February but has been delayed until June.

Kit Carson County, in eastern Colorado at the Kansas border, has decided to shut off six county-owned translators instead of spending more money.

"Sure there's some expense to residents, but I haven't read anywhere in the Constitution that it's the county's obligation to give anyone free TV," said former County Commissioner John Nichols. He supported shutting off the translators when he was in office.

Some places, like Medicine Bow, Wyo., population 275, turned off translators years ago because there was no money to operate them.

In the small town of Denio, Nev., about 60 households will lose their television reception, said Paul Burkholder, Humboldt County communications director. Burkholder said Lyon County on Nevada's western border also "has real issues" with the switch.

Some people, like Doris Loeffler of Scratton in eastern Colorado, are wondering why it costs so much to be able to watch television.

"Why should we have to pay for TV? It's like paying for radio," she said. "Why? It's supposed to be free."