Verizon (NYSE: VZ) has filed a brief with the FCC, urging the commission to end a seven-year ban on MVPD set-tops with integrated security features.
According to a Multichannel News report, Verizon's Oct. 6 filing expands on an earlier FCC petition made by TiVo for a waiver on the ban. The telecom giant says the Federal Communications Commission should "seize the opportunity" to waive all technology restrictions for devices distributed by MVPDs.
"Given these marketplace developments since this rule was adopted, the Commission should seize this opportunity to waive all technology mandates related to navigation devices distributed by MVPDs, and let consumers enjoy the multiple and diverse market-based solutions that are rapidly being developed and implemented by MVPDs and the consumer electronics industry," Verizon argues in its brief.
A number of lawmakers and industry heavyweights have recently moved to convince the FCC to overturn the ban, which would end a mandate that requires a separate and unpopular CableCARD module.
For example, in July, while passing the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Reauthorization Act of 2014 (a.k.a. "STELA," as well as "STELAR"), the House included language overturning the ban.
For more:
- read this Multichannel News story
Related links:
FCC's waiver of integrated set-top security ban yields tiny sales for ACE
The federal docket: FCC gets busy on gateways
House passes STELA, boosts pay-TV retrans leverage, ends CableCARD requirement