OTI Urges the FCC to 'Unlock-the-Box' Without Delay

Washington, D.C.—Today, the Federal Communications Commission announced a new proposal to encourage competition in the market for set top boxes. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler published a fact sheet and an op-ed that outline his new plan, which the full Commission is expected to vote on at its Sept. 29 meeting. After that meeting, the text of any rules that are approved will become public.

The following quote can be attributed to Joshua Stager, Policy Counsel at New America’s Open Technology Institute:

“We appreciate the work that Chairman Wheeler's office put into this new proposal, and we are encouraged to see protections for integrated search and open standards. We remain concerned that the cable industry could manipulate the rules to maintain their stranglehold over set top boxes—just as they did a decade ago with the CableCARD effort. So this proposal will require vigilant oversight.

While we await further details, the fact remains that the market for set top boxes is badly broken. Consumers spend billions of dollars annually to rent devices from their cable company that are antiquated and overpriced. It doesn’t have to be this way. Congress has twice directed the FCC to break up the set top box monopoly, first in 1996 and again in 2014. So Chairman Wheeler’s effort is on solid legal ground. Consumers have waited too long for reform, and they need the Commission to act without delay.”