FCC Bans Proprietary Set-Top Boxes

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
Date: January 11, 2007 4:47:49 PM EST
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] FCC Bans Proprietary Set-Top Boxes
Reply-To: dewayne () warpspeed com

FCC Bans Proprietary Set-Top Boxes
Posted on: 01/11/2007
<http://www.xchangemag.com/hotnews/71h111355.html>
Comcast and other cable companies must provide, by July 1, set-top  
boxes based on the CableCARD smartcard rather than proprietary set- 
top boxes that consumers now use to receive cable signals.

That’s the word from the FCC as the media bureau on Wednesday denied  
Comcast’s request for a waiver on a ban not to offer integrated set- 
top boxes, which the FCC has contended stifle competition and  
consumer choice. Cable operators must deploy CableCARD-enabled  
devices, something that makes them unhappy because they stand to lose  
millions of dollars in revenue from renting proprietary set-top boxes  
to subscribers.

The FCC did grant Cablevision’s request for a two-year wavier and  
conditionally granted the waiver request of Bend Cable, a small  
operator in Bend, Ore.

The FCC has moved its deadlines for CableCARD integration twice times  
over the past few years, in hopes that cable companies would develop  
downloadable security alternatives to the smartcard, but those hopes  
never came to fruition.

On Wednesday, the FCC paved the way for consumers to eventually  
purchase, one time only, devices that will work with any cable  
operator’s signals. Cable companies have protested this move, as they  
make several dollars on every set-top device in someone’s home.  
Consumers with three of four of these boxes pay up to $20 more for  
cable service every month. That adds up to millions of extra dollars  
annually for operators.

Comcast said it would appeal the decision.

“We are very disappointed in this regrettable FCC Media Bureau  
decision,” said David Cohen, executive vice president for Comcast, in  
a prepared statement. “This amounts to an FCC tax of hundreds of  
millions of dollars on consumers with no countervailing benefits. We  
will seek full commission review immediately.”

The National Cable & Telecommunications Association said it was  
“incomprehensible” that the FCC would deny the waiver requests as  
government officials make the transition from analog to digital  
signals a priority.

Consumer and technology groups have blasted the original versions of  
the CableCARD, which have only enabled one-way, rather than two-way,  
communications. Newer versions seemed to have addressed that problem.

The decision further affects manufacturers such as Motorola Inc.,  
Cisco Systems Inc., and Scientific-Atlanta, many of whom had  
supported Comcast’s request for a waiver on set-top box requirements.



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