Intel Decides to Open Up to OpenCable

In a reversal, Intel has embraced cable’s two-way technology — a move analysts said could trigger a wave of new development for the CableLabs-developed OpenCable specification.

Intel was once publicly opposed to the licensing terms for the two-way technology the cable industry has offered the consumer-electronics makers. But last month, the giant chip-maker announced it has signed an agreement with CableLabs to incorporate the OpenCable Application Platform in future products.

The deal will allow Intel products to access two-way cable services, such as video on demand. CableLabs CEO Dick Green said, “Having Intel support the technology really brings the OpenCable platform to a new level of maturity.”

Under the deal, the chip maker will include support for OCAP in future system-on-a-chip products for consumer-electronics devices. The agreement does not include provisions for incorporating OpenCable into Intel’s PC processors, Intel spokesman Bill Kircos said.

The news that Intel licensed OpenCable came as the Federal Communications Commission — looking to move cable and consumer electronics players forward on the issue of two-way cable — approved a measure to solicit comment about different proposals to bring interactive cable products to market.

But “historically, Intel never likes to wait for government to open doors for them,” said Richard Doherty, research director for consulting firm Envisioneering Group.

In a related development, Microsoft and CableLabs extended their partnership on bringing cable services to PCs, by formally establishing a collaborative relationship to work on personal computers.

Currently, Windows Vista computers that have built-in cable access are outfitted with a piece of hardware CableLabs calls an OpenCable Unidirectional Receiver, or OCUR (pronounced “ochre”). Now Microsoft and CableLabs are working together to create a Bidirectional OpenCable Receiver, or BOCR (pronounced “boker”), that includes an OCAP stack.

The Intel news, though, was more of an attention-grabber. Industry analysts said the backing of the biggest component supplier to the PC industry will give OCAP a shot of adrenaline.

“It instantly raises the bar for the OCAP developer community,” Envisioneering’s Doherty. “We should see a broader, richer base of OCAP applications.”

Intel’s research and development division, according to Doherty, is probably the second-largest in the computer industry after Microsoft’s.

Intel has “a huge number of software programmers, and they may be able to turbo-charge OCAP applications and do toolkits even quicker than the traditional OCAP players,” he said, referring to Scientific Atlanta and Motorola.

Now that Intel has joined the OpenCable fold, large cable operators should be more comfortable working with the chip supplier.

As part of the announcement between Intel and CableLabs, Comcast chief technology officer Tony Werner said the operator is “committed to working with Intel to bring one or more Intel [system-on-a-chip]-based digital set-top boxes to market in the next two years.”

Comcast senior director of communications Jenni Moyer clarified that the operator at this point is simply in discussions with Intel and has no specific deployment plans. “We’re talking with them about how we can work together,” she said.

Intel apparently concluded that working with OpenCable was the most expedient route to cracking into the market for cable set-top chips, where incumbent suppliers include Broadcom and Conexant Systems.

Intel, along with other companies in the consumer-electronics industry, had opposed CableLabs’ licensing terms for OCAP as recently as November 2006. In a letter that month to the FCC, the Consumer Electronics Association requested that the agency bring an end the “stalemate” in negotiations with cable over licensing the technology.

In the letter, the CEA specifically requested that device makers not be required to support OCAP. “Rather than absorbing all of the cost and uncertainty associated with OCAP, competitive manufacturers would be permitted to offer functionally equivalent bidirectional products that build on existing digital-cable-compatibility technologies,” the letter said.

Intel vice president of technical policy and standards Donald M. Whiteside signed that letter, along with representatives from 11 other companies, including Sony Electronics, Microsoft, Dell, Hitachi, Mitsubishi and Philips Electronics.

Now it appears that Intel has emerged as a key partner for cable on OCAP.

“The collaboration between the major cable operators and Intel exemplifies and fuels the ongoing transition to digitally delivered entertainment whether through a computer, high-definition TV, smart set-top box or other networked CE device,” Eric Kim, Intel senior VP and general manager of the company’s Digital Home Group, said in announcing the deal with CableLabs.

Asked why the company dropped its opposition to OCAP, Intel’s Kircos said, “This is a step forward for us, and we’re always advocating as many licensing agreements as possible in these areas.”

To date, the biggest CE-industry partners on OCAP — which industry leaders have started referring to as the “OpenCable Platform” instead — have been LG Electronics, Panasonic and Samsung Electronics. The largest U.S. cable operators have committed to widely supporting OCAP in their systems by the end of 2008.

And after more than seven years of OCAP development, operators are now beginning to deploy the technology in their networks. Time Warner Cable chief technology officer Mike LaJoie, speaking at the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers’ Cable-Tec Expo 2007 last month, said the company’s New York/New Jersey division has rolled out the first OCAP-based Samsung set-tops.

Intel said its future OCAP-based products will support access to interactive program guides delivered by cable operators, plus on-screen ordering and VOD services.

The devices will also include support for the CableCard removable security devices, which is covered under a separate FCC mandate prohibiting most cable operators from deploying digital set-tops with integrated security as of July 1.