As the industry waits for the FCC to rule on the so-called set-top integration ban, NCTA pres/CEO Kyle McSlarrow sent off a Halloween letter to the Dept of Commerce and FCC warning that maintaining the ban could put the country’s long-awaited DTV transition at risk. NCTA has asked the FCC to defer the ban until cable ops deploy a new downloadable security system, or until 2010, if they haven’t deployed the tech by then. Under the integration ban, cable operators can’t deploy non-CableCARD enabled set-tops after July 1. While the NTIA grapples with how to implement a digital-to-analog converter voucher program, “the FCC is about to decide whether to continue a policy that will tax all cable customers and discourage the migration of analog television owners into the digital age,” McSlarrow wrote.

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Monday–November 23

FCC Order on DISH Designated Entities

The FCC made it official Monday, releasing an order on remand finding that SNR Wireless LicenseCo and Northstar Wireless are controlled de facto by DISH and thus ineligible for the $3.3bln in AWS-3 bidding

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