Localities Hoping SCTE 40 Cable Specs Mean Better PEG Quality
Localities hope the FCC cable signal performance quality draft order on commissioners' Sept. 26 agenda could resolve issues that have plagued some public, educational and government access channels, communications lawyers said. A 5-0 vote is likely since there doesn't seem to be any particular political opposition or issues, cable industry officials told us.
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Most QAM-based cable operators already are in compliance with the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers 40 standards, as would be required under the order (see 1709070056), the cable officials said. The draft doesn't propose performance standards for non-QAM cable systems such as IPTV, saying it's leaving more time for the industry to reach consensus on a non-QAM proof of performance standard before adopting that. NCTA, the American Cable Association and SCTE didn't comment.
In docket 12-217, NCTA recapped a phone call with Media Bureau staff in which it repeated its argument that any mandatory proof of performance testing for digital signal quality would be costly and unnecessary (see 1705260002). Posted Tuesday, it said the order should clarify that any testing done by franchising authorities -- as authorized under Section 626 of the Communications Act -- be limited to SCTE 40 parameters and accommodate technological advances in testing, like remote network monitoring. Pointing to proactive cable industry guidance and recommendations to operators on how to mitigate cable signal leakage, NCTA called "unnecessary" the FCC draft order's solicitation of petitions for rulemaking with specific proposals for preventing interference in bands above 400 MHz.
Local franchise authorities want local channels treated the same as commercial signals, and current standards that speak to how channels are to be carried are outdated, said communications lawyer Brian Grogan of Moss & Barnett. It's not clear whether the SCTE 40 standard would address that, said Grogan, who represents municipalities. Cable operators sometimes argue some commercial channels require more capacity because of the type of content they carry -- like sports, because of the fast motion on screen -- but cities typically would prefer a "one-size-fits-all" approach for all channels due to the pixelation or other viewing quality problems PEG channels sometimes see, Grogan said.
Language in cable franchise agreements about meeting FCC technical rules for signals is largely meaningless, given how out of date rules are, said local governments lawyer Ken Fellman of Kissinger & Fellman. He said FCC regulations need updating, such as customer service standards for cable operators, which were last updated in the early 1990s. He said customers on occasion still complain about picture or sound quality of local PEG channels on cable systems: "It's not an every day or once a week in every city, but periodically."
The draft order -- in rejecting the cable signal testing regime and certification requirements that were part of 2012's digital cable signals NPRM (see 1208060052) -- said cable operators have shown if they meet SCTE 40 specifications, they can deliver "good-quality" video and audio without such testing. It said some LFAs report problems with pixelation and audio loss. It said "these appear to be isolated incidents," not continuing of the poor signal quality trend dating back to analog signal days.