Comcast Starts to Lock Up Its Basic TV Tier
MSO Offers Free Boxes to Descramble Signals in 'Select Markets' Where
Basic Encryption Has Been Unleashed
By: Jeff Baumgartner
Multichannel News
Apr 16 2013 - 11:31am
http://www.multichannel.com/distribution/comcast-starts-lock-its-basic-tv-tier/142741
Comcast has begun to encrypt limited basic channels in its most basic
"B1" tier in a select number of all-digital systems, a move that comes
about four months after new rules at the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) paved the way.
The decision will affect a small portion of customers who are receiving
that tier on TVs without a set-top in systems where Comcast has
introduced basic encryption. According to a Web page detailing the plan,
limited basic customers who currently do not use set-tops are eligible
to receive up to two Digital Transport Adapters (DTAs) at no charge for
two years, or five years if they also receive Medicaid, if they request
DTAs during the equipment offer period at or around the time of
encryption. Customers who subscribe to a higher level of service and get
limited basic service on a secondary TV without a Comcast-supplied
set-top are eligible for one device at no charge for one year.
Customers who subscribe to HD service at the time of encryption and get
limited basic on a secondary TV without a Comcast-supplied box are
eligible for one HD-DTA, upon request, at no charge for one year if it's
ordered during the promotional offer period, which begins 30 days before
the date of encryption and ends 120 days after encryption. DTAs are
one-way, downstream-only devices that don't have access to pay-per-view
content, premium channels, or Comcast's video-on-demand programming.
"We are beginning to proactively notify customers in select markets that
we will begin to encrypt limited basic channels as now permitted by last
year's FCC B1 Encryption Order," Comcast said, in a statement. "While
the vast majority of our customers won't be impacted because they
already have digital equipment connected to their TVs, we understand
this will be a change for a small number of customers and will be making
it as convenient as possible for them to get the digital equipment they
may need to continue watching limited basic channels."
Comcast isn’t revealing which all-digital systems are encrypting B1
early on, but a spokeswoman noted last week that the MSO expects to
phase in basic tier security in additional markets over the coming months.
As reported earlier, Comcast is also making available a new type of
“Ethernet” DTA with home networking capabilities that enables Boxee’s
new Cloud DVR box to receive the encrypted version of the B1 tier.
E-DTAs are not compatible with the original Boxee Box, however.
FCC lifted the basic TV encryption ban on Dec. 10, 2012, clearing the
way for operators to secure basic tiers in all-digital systems. Cable
successfully argued that basic encryption would help operators cut down
on service theft and reduce truck rolls, because it would allow MSOs to
activate and deactivate services remotely in most areas.
The largest six incumbent U.S. cable MSOs (Comcast, Time Warner Cable,
Cox Communications, Charter Communications, Cablevision Systems and
Bright House Networks), representing about 86 percent of all U.S. cable
subscribers, also agreed to let IP-based retail devices receive basic TV
tiers without a CableCARD. Longer term, CE companies will also have the
ability to license that technology and build it into their products.
Boxee and Comcast signed a separate agreement that focused on the E-DTA
component, but it’s representative of the retail component of the new
FCC rule.
Among other major MSOs, Cablevision received a waiver to encrypt its
basic tier prior to the new FCC rule. Meanwhile, Cox has not begun to
encrypt its basic TV tier yet, as it currently provides both analog and
digital service across its systems, so the new FCC rule does not yet
apply to the MSO, a Cox spokesman said.
The new rule will affect a fraction of cable's video customer base, even
as more MSOs cut off analog. U.S. cable ended 2012 with about 56.4
million video subs, with 46.8 million on digital video tiers, leaving
fewer than 10 million analog cable customers, says SNL Kagan senior
analyst Ian Olgeirson. He estimates that between 8% to 10% of U.S. cable
subs still take some type of B1 or “lifeline” video tier.
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Associate Professor Fax (713) 743-3927
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University of Houston
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