Tired of renting a cable set-top box? The FCC is looking for alternatives
WASHINGTON -- Regulators on Thursday put the metal boxes most Americans rent to receive cable or satellite programming at the center of a high-stakes fight over the future of TV and video.
The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 along party lines Thursday to begin crafting new rules intended to spur competition in the set-top box market by developing technology standards to allow the development of third-party devices and apps capable of decoding pay TV signals.
Such technology would allow consumers to purchase boxes from technology com
panies instead of renting them and could open the door to all-encompassing devices and apps that combine pay TV access with Internet streaming.
"The issue is whether you are forced to rent that box every month after month," said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, a Democrat, who pushed for the agency to develop the new rules.
"The consumers have no choice today."
About 99 percent of the nation's 100 million pay-TV subscribers rent at least one set-top box, with the average household paying $231 a year in fees, according to a survey by Sens. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. That adds up to about $20 billion a year in revenue for pay-TV providers.
But the formal rule-making process also raises difficult issues involving the privacy of valuable data about consumer viewing habits, copyright and licensing protections for video content as well as the effects on minority programming and TV networks.
The FCC's decision, which stems from a 1996 law that requires the agency to ensure the commercial availability of navigation devices, sets up a major fight.
On one side are Comcast Corp., Verizon Communications Inc., AT&T Inc. and other pay-TV providers, who oppose FCC open-technology mandates for set-top boxes.
They prefer an approach focused on apps, such as the customized ones some providers are rolling out that allow subscribers to access programming from various devices and that could eliminate the need for set-top boxes.
On the other side are consumer groups and technology firms such as Google, TiVo and Vizio interested in developing new devices that would be able to combine pay-TV programming with other features, such as Internet streaming and expanded program guides that could feature advertising.
Advocacy coalitions have formed on both sides of the debate, and members of Congress have begun expressing support and opposition.
This story was originally published February 18, 2016 at 10:50 PM with the headline "Tired of renting a cable set-top box? The FCC is looking for alternatives ."