Delay Seen in Dec. 1 Deadline for FCC Set-Top Output Standard
A Dec. 1 FCC deadline for set-top boxes to include new standard home-networking outputs will probably be temporarily waived, lawyers for cable and consumer electronics companies predicted. The Media Bureau is reviewing a request by TiVo to be let out from the requirement, and is expected to act soon, they said. “I think they realize nobody is going to comply [by Dec. 1] and they haven’t been very clear about what they want people to do,” said a lawyer.
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Last week, the chorus of parties urging the bureau to grant elements of TiVo’s request and extend that relief to the rest of the industry grew to include the American Cable Association. Verizon and NCTA have already said they supported an 18-month compliance extension. The ACA said small cable operators should get an additional six months to comply with the new output requirement. A bureau spokeswoman declined to comment.
The industry appears unready to meet the Dec. 1 deadline. “A review of the record in this proceeding indicates unanimous agreement that, despite good faith efforts to date, manufacturers, software developers, service providers and consumers will benefit from allowing additional time for the appropriate standards bodies to complete the development of new IP output requirement standards and to allow the implementation of these standards in their offerings,” ACA said in a recent filing (http://xrl.us/bnzthn).
ACA said its members need an additional six months, beyond the 18 that TiVo and others have asked for, because larger cable operators usually get to buy manufacturers’ new inventory first. In the past before new compliance deadlines, there’s typically been “a surge in demand for new compliant equipment and software, with the result that small operators, who are last in line, are unable to timely procure the devices and related software because the orders of the largest operators are being met first,” the association said.
Though industry officials expect the bureau to push back the Dec. 1 deadline, they said it’s less clear how it will handle TiVo’s request that it clarify expectations about what a suitable home-networking output will be. “I don’t think they're going to say there’s just one standard to use,” the industry attorney said. But the bureau might identify certain attributes it expects compliant solutions to have, the lawyer said.
Cable industry advocates have told the FCC that work is under way at several industry bodies, including the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), on new technology. In response to a request from bureau staff, DLNA Executive Director Donna Moore provided the commission with information about its structure, membership, and procedures, a recent filing shows (http://xrl.us/bnztqe).