NCTA: Broadband Video Migration Needs No FCC Push [Multichannel News]
The FCC has announced plans to release a rulemaking in the first quarter of 2011 focused on advancing broadband video. Kyle McSlarrow, president of the NCTA, sent a letter to FCC chairman Julius Genachowski this week that maintains the broadband video marketplace continues to innovate, and government regulation is unnecessary and potentially creates a chilling effect on new product development.
The FCC’s plans would involve the implementation of a gateway device to combine online video with over-the-air and over-the-wire video. The problem cable operators and programmers have with this plan is that it would likely throw a wrench in the aggregation of programming that sits at the heart of the current video business model.
McSlarrow, in the letter, did not argue that the FCC’s goals were unacceptable. Instead, McSlarrow argued that the cable industry is already moving in this direction on its own and does not need government intervention to push it forward.
McSlarrow also cited the numerous online video products that have already made their way into the marketplace without any push by the FCC. From tablets to Internet-connected TVs to new online video streaming services, McSlarrow said innovation is happening on its own and the FCC should merely work to ensure that impediments are not placed in front of these developments.
The FCC’s current plans are to produce a gateway device, such as the AllVid technology, to replace the CableCARD by 2012. Interestingly, the FCC also has current plans to try to save CableCARD technology.
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