FCC votes to open set-top box market Feb 1

FCC votes to open set-top box market


Feb 18 2016, 11:49 ET | By: Jason Aycock, SA News Editor






In a party-line vote, the FCC has voted to proceed on new regulations that will allow for open competition in pay TV set-top boxes.

Agency Chairman Tom Wheeler had railed against a market where he says Americans spend $20B on leasing devices from their TV providers, paying rental fees that have jumped 185% since 1994 despite the fact that other consumer electronics have declined 90% in price in the same time frame.

The FCC's move could throw open the doors to a new generation of boxes from the likes of Apple and Alphabet as well as TiVo, among others.

“This issue is not complex,” Wheeler says, noting that the 1996 Telecommunications Act “explicitly instructed us to assure that there are competitive information devices, be it a box or an app.”

Voting on Wheeler's proposal is the start of a process. If a final order goes forward, MVPDs would have to provide information to third parties who could make devices that conformed to a specification to provide service.

Pay TV players: CMCSA, TWC, CHTR, CVC/OTCPK:ATCEY, T, DISH, VZ, FTR, CTL

Previously: Reports: FCC planning for open competition in set-top boxes (Jan. 27 2016)

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