Posts Tagged ‘CableCARD’

The FCC is considering a change in its rule on basic tier encryption, which currently requires cable systems to provide their basic service tier “in the clear.” There’s been quite a lot of public discussion of the issue this month and some of the elements can be confusing.

Boxee should be applauded for their creativity.  For years, they have proudly touted their service as the ultimate answer for consumers who want to “cut the cord” and cancel their cable or satellite service.

CableCARDs will again be a topic of discussion in D.C. this week as the FCC on Thursday is expected to approve some revisions to the CableCARD rules, smart-card like devices which facilitate the ability of retail  cable-ready “video navigation devices” to access cable services.

The FCC has released its tentative agenda  for its next open meeting scheduled for October 14 (“FCC Tees Up CableCARD Fixes”).  Among the items to be addressed is a revision of the FCC’s CableCARD rules with respect to “video navigation devices” for cable services.

Several major cable operators are making new deployments of switched digital video – see here and here – which provides a timely opportunity to explain how SDV works and how consumers will benefit.

During The Cable Show last week, Light Reading’s Jeff Baumgartner interviewed NCTA President & CEO Kyle McSlarrow. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski had spoken earlier that day (coverage here) and so Jeff asked Kyle about proposed Title II regulation of broadband.

In the early days, cable television didn’t use set-top boxes, since only over-the-air broadcast channels were being carried. With the advent of cable programming, which was transmitted on midband frequencies, came the initial wave of basic converter boxes that were necessary to convert the cable feed to an analog RF signal so it could be displayed on a TV set.

There have been quite a few announcements in recent months about cable’s progress towards deploying tru2way, but unfortunately, there continues to be some confusion in the blogosphere about the future of CableCARDs and exactly how tru2way devices will work.