"By reclaiming bandwidth, we avoided a costly cable infrastructure rebuild, which would have cost us -- and by definition our customers -- many millions."
SWITCHING TO DIGITAL:
The FCC, spurred by Congress, has long advocated that the nation's telecommunications providers switch from analog to digital as a way to improve services and spawn innovation, FCC spokesman Clyde Ensslin said.
The root for the push lies in The Telecommunications Act of 1996, which states, "It shall be the policy of the United States to encourage the provision of new technologies and services to the public."
Also in the Telecommunications Act, Congress authorized the FCC to adopt regulations that would ensure consumers would have access to consumer electronic devices that could be used to watch "multichannel video programming" that were not affiliated with the provider.
In other words, it was the hope of Congress that a consumer could purchase an off-the-shelf device to watch programming or use advanced features rather than be forced to use a provider's proprietary device.
It was a way to spur innovation and choice, Ensslin said. TiVo, the popular digital video recorder manufactured by TiVo Inc., is one such example of a third-party device.
Digital signals are often scrambled to prevent theft. In order for cable providers to continue to scramble their signals while still adhering to Congress' desire for competition for set-top devices, the FCC required the cable industry to develop technology that would allow third-party consumer electronic devices to unscramble a cable signal. This became known as the "separable security" requirement, which in effect banned devices with an integrated signal-decoding function.
CableLabs, the cable industry's research consortium, responded with the CableCard, which was introduced in 2004. Similar in size to a wireless card for a laptop computer, it is what is plugged into a TiVo to allow the TiVo to unscramble the cable provider's digital signal.
CableCards are available from BendBroadband.
In 2005, the FCC, recognizing the cost of the CableCard technology might make set-top devices cost-prohibitive for small cable operators, agreed to allow a certain number of set-top boxes that had an integrated security function, but only if the set-top box had limited functionality, i.e., did not perform any advanced functions, such as two-way communication or the ability to record. In addition, the set-top boxes had to be deployed before July 2007.
In October 2006, BendBroadband requested that the FCC waive the ban on integrated set-top boxes if the company agreed to transition to an all-digital signal by the end of 2008.
At the heart of the waiver request was BendBroadband's decision to use the Motorola DCT-700 model set-top box, which costs just under $100. The model does allow some advanced uses, including two-way communication for ordering video-on-demand products, and an interactive program guide.
The FCC granted the waiver, even though it didn't think the DCT-700 was a qualified device.
"We [don't] believe that the DCT-700 qualifies for waiver as a 'low-cost, limited capability' device ... because it includes two-way functionality that places it outside of the scope of what the Commission intended when it was considering a waiver for 'limited capability integrated digital cable boxes.' Nevertheless, we do recognize that the ability to rapidly migrate to an all-digital network would produce clear, non-speculative public benefits," the order said.
The order is online at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-47A1.pdf
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