Motorola, SA Gear Up for FCC Ban
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 1/12/2007 1:05:00 PM
Both Motorola and Scientific Atlanta said this week that they will soon ship set-top boxes with removable CableCARDs for deployment, as the Federal Communications Commission's ban on set-tops with integrated security is set to go into effect July 1 for most operators.
The FCC Wednesday officially rejected Comcast's request for a waiver on the ban.
Comcast senior vice president of video-product development Mark Hess said: "We’re right on schedule with both Motorola and SA. We have the initial devices for testing. For us to be already testing a box in January we will be deploying in July -- that’s the same schedule I’d have if it was any other new set-top. It’s just-in-time delivery."
SA plans to deliver production CableCARD-enabled units for deployment by the end of February, director of product strategy and management Dave Clark said.
SA's first CableCARD-enabled models, which are based on existing set-top designs, are the 8300C, 8300HDC, 8240C, 8240HDC, 4250C, 4250HDC, 4240C and 4240HDC.
Motorola, meanwhile, expects to deliver production units of its first CableCARD set-top, an HD dual-tuner model, by the end of March, with other models to follow in the second quarter, said John Burke, general manager of digital-video solutions in Motorola's Connected Home Solutions division.
"Would everybody like a few more months? Sure," Burke said. "But we feel very confident with the schedule we have in place."
When asked if delivering CableCARD-based boxes in May and June wasn't cutting it a bit close, Burke said, "That's a conversation we have with the operators all of the time."
