The FCC already has extended the integration ban on cable set-top...
The FCC already has extended the integration ban on cable set-top boxes (STBs) once, and doing so again beyond the July 1, 2006, deadline would “compromise” the ability of technology companies to innovate, Hewlett-Packard Exec. Vp Shane Robison told…
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FCC Chmn. Powell in a letter. “The time has come to end consumers’ exclusive reliance on STBs provided by their cable company,” Robison said: “In fact, it is long overdue.” Nothing has happened since the Commission’s 2003 decision to extend the deadline beyond Jan. 1, 2005 “to justify further delay,” he wrote. Maintaining the July 2006 date is “critical” to achieving the goal of giving consumers “the widest possible range of choices in the market for navigation devices,” Robison said. Without a firm deadline, “parties that benefit from delay and uncertainty could ultimately undermine Congressional intent” in the DTV transition, Robison said. “The current compliance date is also critical to the further development of reliable and innovative functionalities and gives equipment manufacturers and cable operators the appropriate market incentives and appropriate timeframe to develop and deploy swiftly compatible products to the public.”