Lawmakers: New set-top box rules would promote broadband

Satellite video providers and some telecom-based video providers don't support CableCard devices, and installation of the devices can often take hours or multiple visits from cable technicians, said Representative Rick Boucher, a Virginia Democrat. A new generation of smart set-top boxes, that consumers could buy and use with multiple video providers, could show more U.S. consumers the benefit of broadband, Boucher and other Democrats on the subcommittee said.

When Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, it recognized that set-top boxes would someday enable two-way communications, added Harold Feld, legal director of Public Knowledge, a digital rights group.

"In the national broadband plan, the FCC determined that promoting competition in video devices would spur the adoption and use of broadband by making it easy for innovators to break down the wall between television and the Internet," Feld said. "Fulfilling the mandate of Congress to promote competition in video devices will help America achieve the goal of universal broadband, which has become the general-purpose communications technology of our time."

Kyle McSlarrow, president and CEO of trade group the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, pledged to work with the FCC on its set-top box competition goals. Representatives of TiVo and Sony Electronics also said they supported the FCC's initiatives.

But requiring satellite providers such as DirecTV to accept third-party set-top boxes could cause problems, said Eric Shanks, executive vice president for entertainment at DirecTV. Because of the way satellite TV providers deliver their service, the add-on features, such as weather forecasts, sports scores and 3D TV, reside on the provider's set-top boxes, Shanks said.