If you haven’t registered for TV converter box coupons, you may be out of luck.

The Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on Monday announced that starting Sunday, January 4, anyone requesting coupons will be placed on a waiting list.

The agencies said that the coupons will be mailed on a first-come-first-served basis.

They say that they took the action because there simply are not enough funds and that they’re waiting for monies from expired coupons to become available. 

Because of the high demand for coupons, the program reached its $1.34 billion ceiling, which consists of ordered and redeemed coupons.

“Households need to consider all of their options and act now to be prepared for the February 17 transition to digital television,” said Acting NTIA Administrator Meredith Attwell Baker. “We are working with Congress, the incoming Administration and other stakeholders to ensure everyone is prepared for the transition and no one is left in the dark.”

Attwell Baker says that when consumers contact the Coupon Program to request coupons, they will be placed on a waiting list and they will be given a reference number that they should write down and use to check the status of their order.

More than 24 million households have requested 46 million coupons and more than 18 million coupons have been redeemed. 

These coupons have to be redeemed before they expire. That usually occurs within 90 days from the date the coupon was mailed. 

To date, 52.5 percent of coupons requested have been redeemed and more than 13 million coupons have expired.

Consumers with analog televisions—not connected to cable, satellite or other pay TV service—need to buy a converter box so their TV works when the transition to DTV is completed on February 17, 2009.

Officials want people to know that there are options.

For instance, they said that consumers can buy the box without a coupon or they can get a new TV with a digital receiver. You can also get cable or satellite, said officials.

Consumers are urged to act fast because there are serious concerns of a shortage of converter boxes as the deadline approaches.

The converter box will cost you anywhere between $40 and $80 without a coupon.