Comments are due June 15 at the FCC on Comcast’s bid for a waiver...

due June 30. Comcast’s April 19 request urged prompt FCC action, since the ban starts in less than 15 months. It specifically seeks CableCARD exemptions for 3 boxes -- Motorola’s DCT-700, Scientific-Atlanta’s Explorer-940 and Pace Chicago’s set-top. Lacking HD output, DVR playback, broadband Internet capability or other such functionality, the boxes do enable features such as VoD or electronic program guides absent from unidirectional CableCARDs, Comcast has said. The waiver should cover “any other digital set-top boxes” with the same characteristics of those it cites, Comcast said. The NCTA, which backs Comcast’s request, claims that under FCC rules, a waiver granted Comcast for a particular box applies to any cable operator deploying that box. Approving the waiver “will advance important public interest benefits,” easing the DTV transition by putting digital set-tops in analog households otherwise bound to go dark with the Feb. 2009 analog cutoff, Comcast has said. The waiver “will have no adverse effects on CE manufacturers or retailers,” Comcast said: “There is no basis for concern that grant of the waiver would harm the marketplace for CableCARD-enabled devices or other CE products.” But CEA and individual set- makers are likely to cast the waiver request as a new ploy in cable’s foot-dragging on CableCARD deployment. CEA hasn’t commented on the waiver request.