The FCC Media Bureau should “quadruple” the number...
The FCC Media Bureau should “quadruple” the number of set-top boxes Adams Cable Equipment is allowed to refurbish and sell under the CableCARD waiver the bureau granted the company in July (CD July 30 p11), ACE said in a petition…
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filed Friday (http://bit.ly/1dmXhHB). The current waiver allows ACE to offer its existing inventory of 50,000 set-top boxes directly to subscribers, but the company wants to buy and refurbish older boxes “stranded” in the inventories of large cable operators that have moved on to newer models. “Millions of integrated set-top boxes that could continue to have a useful life are being disposed of for scrap metal when they could readily be refurbished and sold to consumers,” said the petition. The Media Bureau limited ACE to 50,000 boxes to ensure that the company’s operation wouldn’t threaten the “common reliance” on CableCARDs required by the integration ban, but ACE said increasing the limit wouldn’t put “the slightest dent” in the use of CableCARDs. “Cable operators have deployed more than 40 million set-top boxes that commonly rely on CableCARDs,” said ACE. Expanding the waiver would allow ACE to lower the price of its set-top boxes and DVRs and help the environment, the company said. ACE also asked the commission to exempt set-top boxes sold at retail to consumers from the limit imposed by the waiver, since retail sales “have no effect” on whether cable operators are primarily relying on CableCARDs, ACE said.