Paul Gluckman

Replies are due Fri. at the FCC in Comcast’s request that low-cost digital set-tops be exempted from the July 2007 CableCARD requirement. Whether the Commission’s granting of the waiver request would mean the demise of CableCARD -- as CEA has argued but Comcast has denied -- has become as much the subject of heated debate as the CableCARD itself.

Mandating VEIL technology to plug the analog hole, as urged in legislation introduced in the House (HR-4569) and contemplated in the Senate, would require “radical” design changes in analog-to-digital converter (ADC) chips, jacking up device costs, Texas Instruments said last week. The data were submitted at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the analog hole (CD June 22 p14) in written testimony by CEA Pres. Gary Shapiro, whose group opposes VEIL legislation.

Thomson decided to support Comcast’s CableCARD waiver request (CD June 19 p6) “as a result of significant changes in business focus” for the company, a spokesman said. With Thomson no longer in the TV set business, the CableCARD issue “is of less importance to us today,” he said: “In addition, we have very active business relationships with cable, telco and satellite customers who need set-top boxes for delivery of Internet, telephony, and video services. We believe technology has evolved significantly since the initial ’separated security’ rules were adopted. And while the cost of simple digital set-top boxes has fallen dramatically, the same cannot yet be said of CableCARD and other similar interfaces.” The quicker Comcast and other cable operators can make the transition to an all-digital network, the quicker it can free up “analog” cable spectrum for HD and for other digital services, the spokesman said: “We continue to believe that the core principle of a competitive marketplace for digital products must be preserved, but also think that the granting of a waiver in this narrow circumstance will stimulate deployment of broadband and further the rapid development of new interactive services. As we move to more advanced digital, interactive services and downloadable security, Thomson’s focus is more on future means to achieve interoperability and competitive markets.”

Comcast’s request that FCC exempt at least 3 models of “low-cost, limited-capability” digital set-top boxes from an integration ban set for July 1, 2007 (CD May 2 p4), got a resounding thumbs-down from CEA in comments filed late Thurs. Comcast wants a permanent CableCARD exemption for many or most of its new set-top devices, but cable already has plans to use a different downloadable security method, CEA said: “The Commission is therefore asked to be, again, complicit in commercially isolating CableCARD-reliant devices, at a time when such isolation could be fatal to their prospects.”

HD Radio and its licensees “shall adopt in the marketplace” a DAB protection technology to prevent “the disaggregation and indiscriminate redistribution” of content before receivers with TiVo-like functionality are marketed “or made available through interstate commerce.” So says a discussion draft being floated by Senate Democrats of a substitute for a telecom bill already introduced (S-2686) by Senate Commerce Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) that would address the audio flag debate on digital radio much differently. The Democrats’ draft doesn’t say how a marketplace solution would be negotiated or made legislatively binding, but it specifically stresses any such solution must not make existing HD Radios obsolete and that copy protection can’t impede the HD Radio rollout or completion of DAB service rules at the FCC. Its marketplace approach is in marked contrast to the Stevens bill, which would direct the FCC to convene a multi-industry “digital audio review board” to hold good-faith negotiations toward drafting a consensus proposal on an audio flag. CEA and HRRC have criticized the review board proposal in the Stevens bill as “vague and frail,” because it’s unclear who would determine when a consensus has been reached and “by what metric.” CE also suggested it’s naive to think a review board can finish its work in 1-1/2 years -- as the Stevens bill would mandate -- noting that video broadcast flag took many more years to complete in good-faith negotiations.

Comments are due June 15 at the FCC on Comcast’s bid for a waiver exempting at least 3 models of “low-cost, limited- capability” digital set-top boxes from an FCC integration ban set for July 1, 2007. Comcast’s reply is 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.

The FCC has published for comment Comcast’s request for a waiver that would exempt at least 3 models of “low-cost, limited-capability” digital set-top boxes from a Commission integration ban set to take effect July 1, 2007, after 2 extensions (CED May 2 p2). Comcast has said approving the waiver “will advance important public interest benefits,” including easing the DTV transition by putting digital set- tops in analog households otherwise bound to go dark with the 2009 analog cutoff. CE is virtually certain to oppose the request.

HILTON HEAD, S.C. -- Teaching the public about the Feb. 2009 analog cutoff is a CE industry “obligation,” but cable and broadcasters must work with CE for the DTV transition to be as successful as possible, CEA Pres. Gary Shapiro told the PARA conference in a keynote here Sat. Besides his call for multi-industry cooperation on DTV education, Shapiro ripped the NAB for what he called a hard date “terror” campaign and blasted NCTA for lukewarm support on one-way CableCARDs.

Sirius deems the PERFORM Act introduced in the Senate (S-2644) “not very consumer-friendly,” and though it would be “presumptuous” to predict the bill’s fate, “we would be very surprised if there was any movement” on it, CEO Mel Karmazin told analysts Tues. in a Q1 earnings call.

Whether CEA sees it as cable’s latest delaying tactic on CableCARD deployment, it’s not saying publicly. But CEA has declined comment on Comcast’s request of an FCC waiver that, if granted, would take at least 3 models of “low-cost, limited-capability” digital set-top boxes out from under a Commission integration ban mandate set to take effect July 1, 2007, after 2 extensions.