Comcast opposed the FCC regulations requiring that cable services use a standard CableCard in order to allow for a competitive market for set-top boxes, and is appealing the FCC’s rejection of their waiver application.
CNN quotes a Comcast representative as saying “The rejection of this waiver means millions of American consumers won’t have the opportunity to enter the age of digital television easily and affordably,” the company said. “This amounts to an FCC tax of hundreds of millions of dollars on consumers with no countervailing benefits.”
In other words, Comcast is using the disingenuous argument that a competitive market for set-top boxes will drive prices higher. Anyone with even the most elementary grasp of macroeconomics knows that a monopoly will tend to have higher prices than a competitive market.
My friend Steve has Comcast HDTV cable service, and currently has no choice but to rent the equipment Comcast wants to provide. He’s renting an HDTV PVR, which seems to be an utter piece of crap. It’s OK for watching live TV, but recordings are often unwatchable; they stutter or freeze, or just display black. Steve thinks that the hard drive in the box is bad, but Comcast has thus far refused to replace the box.
Under the new rules, Steve would only have to rent the CableCard from Comcast, but could use it in any CableCard compatible decoder, set-top box, PVR, etc., so he will be able to buy a better quality box, and return or exhange it under warranty if it fails to perform acceptably.
Comcast wants to amputate the invisible hand
Comcast opposed the FCC regulations requiring that cable services use a standard CableCard in order to allow for a competitive market for set-top boxes, and is appealing the FCC’s rejection of their waiver application.
CNN quotes a Comcast representative as saying “The rejection of this waiver means millions of American consumers won’t have the opportunity to enter the age of digital television easily and affordably,” the company said. “This amounts to an FCC tax of hundreds of millions of dollars on consumers with no countervailing benefits.”
In other words, Comcast is using the disingenuous argument that a competitive market for set-top boxes will drive prices higher. Anyone with even the most elementary grasp of macroeconomics knows that a monopoly will tend to have higher prices than a competitive market.
My friend Steve has Comcast HDTV cable service, and currently has no choice but to rent the equipment Comcast wants to provide. He’s renting an HDTV PVR, which seems to be an utter piece of crap. It’s OK for watching live TV, but recordings are often unwatchable; they stutter or freeze, or just display black. Steve thinks that the hard drive in the box is bad, but Comcast has thus far refused to replace the box.
Under the new rules, Steve would only have to rent the CableCard from Comcast, but could use it in any CableCard compatible decoder, set-top box, PVR, etc., so he will be able to buy a better quality box, and return or exhange it under warranty if it fails to perform acceptably.