The Regulatory Mix, TMI’s daily blog of regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of a TMI Briefing.
TELECOM
FCC
Set Top Box Competition
The FCC approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) intended to pave the way for software, devices, and other innovative solutions to compete with the set-top boxes that a majority of consumers lease from pay-TV providers today. The NPRM provides the framework to “unlock the box” for innovators to create competitive solutions – either hardware or software-based apps — that give consumers freedom of choice. Among other things, it recommends that pay-TV providers be required to deliver three core information streams:
These three streams would be available to the creators of competitive solutions using any published, transparent format that conforms to specifications set by an independent, open standards body. The NPRM also includes a billing transparency rule to ensure that consumers understand their monthly charges for both programming services and equipment lease fees in accordance with §629 of the Communications Act.
Video Programming Diversity
The FCC adopted a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) “to begin a conversation on the state of independent and diverse programming.” The NOI solicits comment on the principal challenges independent video programmers face in gaining carriage of their content on both traditional and emerging distribution platforms. The NOI invites comment on various issues including the following: