NCTA: Cable Has Spent $935 Million On CableCards
Top 10 Operators Have Deployed 16.7 Million CableCard-Enabled Set-Tops to Date
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 11/18/2009 2:58:27 PM
The U.S. cable industry has spent more than $900 million to date on CableCard-enabled set-top boxes to comply with the Federal Communications Commission's so-called integrated set-top ban, according to the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.
The cable trade association included the estimate in an ex parte filing Wednesday with the FCC, detailing a meeting with agency staff on broadband and set-top topics.
Here's the math: Through September, the 10 biggest cable operators in the U.S. have deployed more than 16.7 million set-top boxes with CableCards. The NCTA cited the FCC's Media Bureau estimate that a CableCard adds about $56 in cost to each set-top -- yielding a total of $935 million.
In the past, the NCTA has quoted estimates of $72 to $93 per unit to add CableCard support.
Meanwhile, the Consumer Electronics Association in the past has disputed the cable industry's claims about CableCard-related costs, claiming that it costs TV manufacturers in the range of $10 to $15 per unit to add support for CableCards.
The FCC's integrated set-top ban -- which went into effect July 2007 -- is intended to improve the way CableCards work in third-party devices, by forcing cable operators to use the technology themselves.
-
As of September: The 10 biggest cable operators in the U.S. have deployed more than 16.7 million set-top boxes with CableCards, compared with 443,000 standalone CableCards for use in retail devices, according to the NCTA.
Does that mean CableCards are not properly advertised/marketed by the cable operators? Or that nobody wants them?
I had a recent blog post on the topic: Why Haven't CableCards Taken Off?www.multichannel.com/blog/BIT_RATE/23555-Why_Haven_t_CableCards_Taken_Off_.php
Todd Spangler - 11/19/2009 7:31:37 PM EST -
16.7 million CableCARDs in set tops. Whoopee! How many CableCARDS have been actually deployed in 3rd party devices that the MSO don't make money from? Opening up the set top duopoly to 3rd party devices so consumer have choice, better products, competition and lower costs was the intention of the FCC rules. There are field techs all around the US who don't know how to support or activate CableCARDs in non-MSO devices and even some who tell consumers they don't support them, when in fact they are required to do so.
Wake up cable! Stop dragging your feet and start supporting diversity and choice in devices for consumers like the FCC intends. Hulu, Boxee, Netflix, Sezmi, ZillionTV and a myriad of other services would be more than happy to take those customers away from you.
Scott Blank - 11/19/2009 5:34:01 PM EST
