[opendtv] Re: TV Technology: Hey FCC: #theboxainttheproblem
- From: Craig Birkmaier <brewmastercraig@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2016 07:32:12 -0500
On Feb 24, 2016, at 8:41 PM, Manfredi, Albert E
<albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Has everything to do with it, when you see that Charter Communications has
already sidestepped the whole problem. It's all about meeting the goal,
without following the legacy thinking of the FCC.
First, they have not met the goal.
- only a portion of the programming available via the QAM umbilical is
available through the Roku box; this may have more to do with rights issues
than the technology, but it is still an issue identified in the NPRM.
- the MVPD is still responsible for the end user experience - Charter and Time
Warner Cable created the apps to run on the Roku Box. This is what the cable
industry proposed as a solution to the DSTAC, which the FCC already said was
insufficient. We do not know if all of the data stream info the FCC is
requesting is available to the Roku box; this data is not available to third
parties.
- these apps do not provide access to on demand services offered by Charter and
TWC.
- with Charter, the app requires subscription to their broadband, and the
content; $12.99/mo for four broadcast channels, $7/mo for a bundle with 16
additional channels.
You may find this article informative:
http://www.homemediamagazine.com/cable/charter-launches-13-monthly-streaming-tv-service-36833
So Charter is offering an OTT service to compete with Dish Sling. They are also
trying to but TIme Warner Cable. Unlike Sling, however, the service is ONLY
AVAILABLE in the geographic footprint served by Charter to their broadband
subscribers.
So yes, it is a step in the right direction - it is a geographically
constrained VMVPD service.
The problem addressed by the NPRM is not solved.
Then there is the minor detail that it requires subscription to a broadband
package - it does nothing to open up the Charter and TWC monopoly on devices to
access their QAM based services.
That's a side discussion, pertaining to the TV Technology article. Not
meaningless, but not applicable to this FCC box program. If the broadband
pipe were available to multiple ISPs, the need for mandating ISP neutrality
would be greatly reduced, or eliminated. And you would also expect more
competitive pricing. But it's irrelevant to the topic at hand.
When the telco broadband pipes were opened by the FCC we did not see more
competitive pricing. And I fail to see how this has anything to do with net
neutrality. Clearly this is not relevant to the NPRM.
Yesterday I posted this:
http://www.multichannel.com/news/video/charter-lineup-joins-roku/394487
I never saw that post. It is related to the article I posted above, which
announced the VMVPD bundle for Charter broadband subscribers using the same
Roku boxes and App.
As you can see, Charter is making its signal compatible with several media
players, as well as its own rented STB, by adding a downloadable security app
to IP streaming. So Charter doesn't have to wait for any FCC legacy-conceived
box.
Yes, Charter has created versions of the App for iOS and Android devices, for
use at the location served by a Charter (or Charter approved) modem with WiFi
router. This is a nice enhancement to Charter MVPD service, enabled by their
decision to stream many of their services using IP and h.264 encoding.
Other MVPDs are offering similar capabilities using a leased STB that converts
the QAM content to h.264 and distributes it via WiFi in the home. The Comcast
X-Finity and Cox Contour boxes offer this ability. The Charter Worldbox appears
to do the same.
It's another example of something that *is* happening a whole lot faster than
what some people, including the FCC, might think. Mention something one day,
and not many days later it has happened. This won't take any 20 years, nor
will it take any new standards or ponderous agreements. Certainly not for
Charter, anyway.
It's another example of something the MVPDs are doing to retain subscribers
behind their pay walls Bert. Nobody disputes that the MVPDs can, and are,
moving from QAM to IP streams over their umbilicals. Clearly customers want to
use their mobile screens to watch TV, and it makes good sense for the MVPDs to
support them, both in the home with services linked to the umbilical, and
outside the home via TVE.
As the TV Technology article stated, the problem may be solved before the
standards the FCC asks in the NPRM are created. It is not clear that these
developments fully address the NPRM, as it still leaves the MVPDs in charge of
the user experience.
The larger issue is when and if the content owners will make the content they
sell to the legacy MVPDs available to new VMVPDs, and if there will be
meaningful competition. As it stands now, the congloms -both content and legacy
distribution - will retain control as they move everything to the Internet.
As you may recall, this is EXACTLY what I have been telling you they are doing.
At least it is now clear that the legacy MVPDs are willing to enable some
services through third party boxes.
So, Charter has already taken care of meeting this NPRM.
Clearly not true today. Maybe at some point in the future.
"FCC, our standards are those used by Roku and other streaming boxes, so we
already comply." And presumably the content owners are satisfied. Now the
question becomes, why would Charter remain so polite as to not offer its
walled-up content to the whole country?
Because they are limited by contractual agreements with both the communities
they serve and the content owners who sell them the programming.
That's the inevitable next step. So, as this next step unfolds, the
foot-dragging MVPDs might just have to compete, by doing much the same thing.
But again, this has nothing to do with the NPRM.
From all appearances, this changes nothing in terms of competition. Perhaps
Dish and DirecTV will be able to offer VMVPD services via the Internet; for now
Sling TV is too limited to compete effectively. It all comes down to whether
these businesses will continue to protect their oligopolies as they migrate
services to the Internet.
DBS companies are reinventing themselves as Internet companies already,
Craig, and they seem to be doing so a lot faster than it would take to go
through the FCC-imagined plan for this STB.
Really?
DirecTV has no Internet capability - they are now a subsidiary of AT&T, which
can fulfill the Internet roll. But to compete effectively in broadband, AT&T
needs to deploy FTTH, which effectively means the DBS service becomes a niche
service for rural customers.
The Dish Sling experiment is crippled. Without the broadcast and other popular
networks it cannot compete effectively with the service Charter just announced.
So for now we will continue to see limited competition among the legacy
players, which helps to prop up monopoly pricing.
There will be some households out in the boonies that have no access to
broadband, but my bet is that satellite or other wireless broadband options
can be provided to them a lot faster than this FCC standard box. Besides,
there are only two DBS companies, so it's hardly difficult for a box maker to
create a DBS-compatible box.
Let's just say that we are witnessing yet another attempt by the FCC to
unbundle the MVPD boxes, as it was directed to do in 1996...
My guess is that the legacy MVPDs will slow walk this attempt as well, and
remain in control of their lucrative oligopoly, adding support for third party
devices where it makes good sense for their business, as we are already seeing
with TVE.
Regards
Craig
Bert
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