In letters sent last week to the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) President & CEO Kyle McSlarrow urged support of a cable industry waiver of the cable security-system "Integration Ban". The so-called Integration Ban prohibits cable operators from packaging condition access and other functionality in the same box. McSlarrow called the ban "a costly and unnecessary rule that could endanger the nation’s long-anticipated transition from analog to digital television." The letters would seem to be a response to an August CEA press release calling the NCTA’s continuing extension requests "unbelievable."

The uproar began in 1998 when the FCC enacted a rule that requires cable operators to separate encryption functions from basic decoding capabilities in their set-top boxes. This has led to the CE/cable industry development of the CableCARD as a means for providing a separable security function. Cable endorsement of the technology has been weak, and widespread availability has remained elusive.

Starting on July 1, 2006, cable operators were further prohibited from placing into service new navigation devices that perform both conditional access and other functions in a single integrated device. Following repeated cable industry requests to delay or remove the requirement - and after several FCC-sanctioned postponements - the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in August unanimously supported the FCC’s order. As a result, NCTA had filed a request earlier this year with the FCC seeking deferral of the Integration Ban until downloadable security is deployed, or until December 31, 2009 if downloadable security is not deployed by that date.

In last week’s NCTA letter, McSlarrow debated the merits of separable security, claiming that, "The additional cost of these cards and the reengineered box components amounts to a $72-$93 price increase for the box above the cost of an integrated box that performs exactly the same functions." Further arguing the industry’s position, he said, "there is no justification for forcing the cable operator to add these costs to an integrated box," and promised "there is a newer technology on the near-term horizon - downloadable security - which is a more efficient, less costly and more a consumer-friendly option than the CableCARD."

McSlarrow went on to say that "The alternative is to make all cable households eligible for the NTIA voucher program [providing $40 coupons towards the purchase of digital-to-analog (DTA) converter boxes]. But that would…add enormously to the cost of the NTIA program…" (Several respondents to the NTIA program nonetheless had already strongly supported the position that all households should be eligible for the voucher.)

In CEA’s earlier press release, Gary Shapiro said, "While NCTA claims this delay would benefit consumers, we believe this action is anti-competitive, anti-consumer and may stifle the success of the transition to digital television. NCTA is proving once again that the cable industry is not committed to competition."

It would seem that the FCC is not in any hurry to reopen the issue, given the current slate on its agenda. For one, the Commission’s recent media ownership proceedings have resulted in more than 170,000 comments being filed. And digital must-carry, after some promise of movement earlier this year, has apparently moved to the back burner. For the moment then, the FCC ruling stands, and it remains to be seen if there will be further efforts by the cable industry to complicate its implementation. The confusion of the issue with the "DTV transition" on the one hand would seek to politically connect it with a process that is rapidly moving forward. But the implied relationship between a cable device and a DTA converter is tenuous, at best. As usual, the biggest casualty appears to be the consumer who, by the differing accounts, either has to pay more or get less for his money. Either way, don’t expect to see downloadable security in a TV anytime in the near future. –AC