The FCC plans on bringing major proposals to a vote at the agency’s public meeting later this month, according to Chairman Tom Wheeler. The proposals concern reforms for broadband infrastructure, privacy and set-top boxes.
The former head of CTIA only has a few months remaining in his current post, unless Hillary Clinton wins the presidential election and asks him to temporarily remain as chair while she assembles a new Administration.
A high-profile battle has been brewing over planned reforms to the “special access” market for high-capacity, dedicated internet connections between cell towers and businesses like ATMs, for example. As Inside Towers previously reported, critics say major companies now control the market; they counter the already competitive market.
Wheeler’s privacy proposal would require internet service providers like Comcast or Verizon to get customers’ permission before they use their data for most purposes. Providers say it’s not fair for the Commission to impose stricter regulations when web platforms that also use customer data, like Google or Facebook, have fewer barriers to hurdle under FTC regs, according to the account.
Wheeler has said internet providers have more information on their customers they can monetize than companies like Facebook.
Finally, Wheeler’s “unlock the box” initiative to open up the set-top box market has been extremely contentious. He says cable providers are being paid by consumers several times over for a single box, through their monthly lease payments.
Originally, the proposal would open up manufacturing and selling of set-top boxes to third parties. Under a revised plan Wheeler has now sent to his colleagues for a vote, pay-TV providers would be required to offer to consumers a free app to access all the programming they pay for on a variety of devices they own now or would buy, according to senior Commission officials speaking to reporters today.
Wheeler’s initial proposal called for “opening up” the cable box by giving third-party manufacturers access to channel feeds for incorporation into their own boxes. Cable providers and minority programmers opposed that, saying it would actually require consumers to buy a second set-top box while minority programmers say their programs would not be favored under the proposed changes. Previously-agreed-to programming and advertising contracts between programmers and pay TV providers would remain unchanged under the new proposal, according to senior FCC officials.
The plan is voluntary; consumers could still choose to lease their box through their current cable television provider.
The next open FCC meeting is September 29. The chairman hopes to have this item on the agenda.
Reader Interactions