Comcast Again Urges ‘Prompt’ FCC OK Of CableCARD Waiver

No opponent objected to FCC statements it would weigh a waiver request, Comcast said, noting that CEA didn’t do so in a brief at the U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., on cable’s petition to void the integration ban. And a CEA representative, seated with FCC attorneys at May 11 Appeals Court oral arguments, was silent when Commission lawyers again said the FCC is open to considering waiver requests, Comcast said: “Yet not one of the waiver opponents even acknowledges these prior Commission statements -- much less offer any reason why the Commission should now go back on its word.” Opponents instead focus on “a hodgepodge of extraneous issues, and insist (despite the Commission’s previous statements to the contrary) that any waiver of any kind would be inconsistent with the integration ban rule,” Comcast said: “These arguments should be summarily rejected.”

A Microsoft demand that the FCC limit the waiver to the 3 specific boxes cited in the request is “misplaced,” Comcast said. Contrary to Microsoft arguments that any waiver would stifle functionality in successor set-tops, Comcast said, it does not want the waiver to cover boxes with DVR, HD, multiple tuning or broadband access, “so successor boxes subject to the waiver request would not include such capabilities.” Rather, Comcast said, only wants cable operators and their set-top suppliers to have “the latitude to incorporate the latest advances in set-top box design to reduce further the costs of such devices.”

Over time, it’s “routine” that functions now performed by multiple components “be consolidated in fewer components through the design of ICs, Comcast said: “This can reduce size, complexity, power requirements and heat buildup -- thus reducing costs.” Originally, Motorola DCT series of limited- functionality set-tops addressed by the waiver cost about $300 each, Comcast said. Volume production has cut that to $70-$100, it said: “Comcast expects that further advances in set-top box design will result in further cost savings.”

Gripes that CableLabs has issued no specs or licenses to allow CE makers to build low-cost retail set-tops “ring hollow,” Comcast said: “The CE industry has never asked for such specifications and licenses… Rather, its entire focus has been on building higher-end products for retail.” Wider complaints by CEA and others about CableLabs specs and licenses on 2-way CableCARD products and the downloadable conditional-access system “are completely extraneous to the merits” of the waiver request “and are blatant attempts to increase these parties’ leverage” in inter-industry talks on issues that don’t involve low-cost, limited-functionality set-tops, Comcast said.

Comcast plans to buy low-cost set-tops from 3 suppliers -- Motorola, Scientific-Atlanta and Pace Micro -- mentioned in the waiver request, but it wants to expand its ties with other suppliers, the cable operator said. “Grant of the waiver will facilitate those efforts,” while acceding to Microsoft efforts t o limit the waiver’s scope would “prevent Comcast from buying a virtually identical device from any new supplier,” it said. Denying the request likewise “would undermine Comcast’s efforts to persuade other CE manufacturers to build these low-cost set-top boxes because Comcast would have to pursue other equipment options,” it said.

Comcast has no objection to selling low-cost set-tops directly to consumers or through retail outlets “and would be happy to explore such options with retailers if the waiver is granted,” it said. However, Comcast said it has approached retailers about selling integrated set-tops, “and they have shown little or no interest in doing so.”