Cable Encryption Waiver Requests Seen, But More Slowly Than First Predicted

A deluge of cable encryption waiver requests at the FCC that some had anticipated never materialized. That doesn’t mean cable operators besides Cablevision, which won the first exemption (CED Jan 11 p6), won’t seek waivers in the future as more systems go all-digital so service can be turned on and off without sending trucks and technicians to people’s homes, industry lawyers and executives said. Potential waiver seekers seem busy for now with other technical and policy issues, such as the FCC’s examination of CableCARDs, said commission and industry officials.

There are no current waiver requests at the FCC, said a Media Bureau spokeswoman. A Public Knowledge official was among those anticipating many cable companies would seek exemptions if Cablevision’s request for its New York City systems was approved (CED Oct 26 p6). Commission officials we surveyed said they hadn’t heard recent talk of waivers letting operators encrypt programming including that from TV stations on their basic tier. The flood of applications some predicted may not have come to fruition because the cable industry has been busy dealing with the video recommendations in the National Broadband Plan, two proposals of which will be voted on at Wednesday’s FCC meeting, an agency official said.

As more multiple system operators “move toward a 100 percent digital subscriber base, there would be more need for a waiver from that group of systems,” said President Amy Tykeson of Bend Broadband, which supported Cablevision’s request and hasn’t yet sought one of its own. The company, with about 35,000 subscribers, is all-digital and could save technician’s time and its money by not having to install traps in the homes of high-speed Internet subscribers who don’t also pay for video so they couldn’t watch unencrypted basic programming for free, she said. “Traps are old technology, and we'd prefer not to have to put a trap on those HSI-only households,” Tykeson said. “It’s not so much the actual cost of the trap, which does have a cost, but the labor associated with installing the trap and removing the trap. … the cost to the system is not insignificant.”

Not enough cable systems have gone digital to bring about the filing of many waiver applications, but that may change, said a cable executive. “This is something the industry is going to have to focus in on, but it just isn’t because of everything else.” Seeking waivers “will become ordinary course, but I don’t know when that is,” said a cable lawyer. “The no encryption rule was born in an analog era.” RCN, another operator with all digital systems that supported Cablevision’s request, declined to comment. Cablevision hasn’t begun encrypting basic programming in New York City, where its systems recently went all-digital, a spokesman said.

Commissioners’ offices continue discussing changes to the two video items scheduled for a Wednesday vote, an FCC official said. There are discussions to revising the rulemaking on CableCARDs and the inquiry on gateway devices, the official said. It’s unclear what changes may ultimately be approved.