U.S. HISPANIC
American Cable Association (ACA) commends FCC for reforming set-top box rules
Maribel Ramos-Weiner| 15 de octubre de 2010
Polka: se corre el riesgo de destruir la competencia efectiva en el mercado de distribución de TV paga
The American Cable Association applauded the Federal Communications Commission for modifying its CableCARD rules this Thursday. The FCC ruled in favor of a new approach sought by the independent cable community for many years that will greatly accelerate the availability of HD programming and faster Internet download speeds across rural America.ACA commends the FCC for recognizing that the burden on independent cable operators to procure expensive HD set-top boxes under the CableCARD regime not only slowed their analog-to-digital TV transition but also tied up valuable bandwidth that could not be allocated to broadband or other advanced services. Today’s laudable FCC action puts the country on the right path and deserves broad support from industry and consumers,” said Matt Polka, American Cable Association President and CEO.The FCC unanimously adopted the rules at its monthly public meeting in Washington, D.C. According to statements at the meeting, the FCC’s new rules will allow cable operators to deploy low-cost HD set-top boxes that have limited features and functionalities namely, streamlined boxes that are expected to cost no more than $50 at wholesale, or several hundreds dollars less than CableCARD-enabled boxes that put a financial burden on many ACA members.The ability to use low-cost HD boxes will provide small cable operators with an affordable avenue to continue the transition of their analog channels to digital.
