September 26, 2013

ACA Applauds Bipartisan Latta-Green Bill Repealing Set-Top Box Integration Ban

PITTSBURGH, September 26, 2013 – American Cable Association President and CEO Matthew M. Polka issued the following statement regarding Rep. Bob Latta and Rep. Gene Green’s bill repealing the Federal Communications Commission’s regulation requiring cable operators to deploy set-tops boxes (STBs) with a separate security module known as the CableCARD:

“The American Cable Association strongly endorses House legislation introduced today by Rep. Bob Latta of Ohio and Rep. Gene Green of Texas, which will eliminate a regulation that has proved to be costly, burdensome and, by the FCC’s own admission, ineffective in creating a retail market for cable STBs.

“From ACA’s perspective, the FCC’s STB integration ban (which required the separation of channel-tuning and signal-scrambling encryption functions in STBs) was especially harmful to small cable operators, who were forced to rely on expensive CableCARD-enabled boxes that were disproportionately more costly than for larger cable operators.  Moreover, no such integration ban mandate applied to ACA Members’ direct broadcast satellite competitors.

“We look forward to working with Rep. Latta and Rep. Green in winning Congressional and White House support for their bipartisan bill. Although the Latta-Green bill would allow cable operators to deploy integrated STBs, it would not eliminate the requirement that cable operators continue to provide their subscribers that use, for example, TiVo DVR devices with all necessary CableCARD technical support.”

About the American Cable Association: Based in Pittsburgh, the American Cable Association is a trade organization representing about 850 smaller and medium-sized, independent cable companies who provide broadband services for more than 7 million cable subscribers primarily located in rural and smaller suburban markets across America.  Through active participation in the regulatory and legislative process in Washington, D.C., ACA’s members work together to advance the interests of their customers and ensure the future competitiveness and viability of their business.  For more information, visit https://acaconnects.org/