CCIA: FCC Is Dialing Up Needed Navigation Competition

The Computer & Communications Industry Association says the FCC's set-top box proposal is all about consumer choices and giving them more than the black rotary phone version of video navigation devices.

That has been FCC chairman Tom Wheeler's pitch, likening the 99% rental rate on MVPD-supplied boxes to phone rentals under the old telco system.

"Opening the telephone market to competition was the right decision then, and it’s the right decision for set-top boxes now," said CCIA president Ed Black. "Unlocking the set-top box will bring competition, and consumers will see lower prices and better devices to access TV."

CCIA submitted its reply comments this week on the proposal to require MVPDs to make their set-top content and data available to third party navigation devices and apps as a way to spur a market for them, including by wedding search for traditional and over-the-top content.

CCIA says MVPDs are dragging their feet to prevent new competition.

"[I]t’s easy to see that while phones have evolved into mobile Internet devices, cable’s set-top boxes look about the same as they did 20 years when Congress mandated that the FCC support set-top box competition," he said.

"Cable has had little incentive to innovate. Now that it’s about to change, they’re trying every argument they can – hoping something will stick – as they try to hold off competition." The National Cable & Telecommunications Association has argued that the FCC would be abdicating its enforcement authority by relying on a standards body or self-certification process for new, third-party devices.

CCIA says that is off base because the commission would still have authority under the proposal and, even if it didn't, many agencies rely on private self-regulatory organizations without losing their enforcement or review authority.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.