Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Agreement May Mean End of Cable Set-Top Boxes

Agreement may mean end of cable set-top boxes "The set-top box, a necessary appendage for millions of cable televisions for decades, is moving toward extinction. A leading television manufacturer, Sony Electronics Inc., and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association said Tuesday they signed an agreement that will allow viewers to rid themselves of set-top boxes, yet still receive advanced 'two-way' cable services, such as pay-per-view movies. "

I can't tell if this is a new cable card standard or something else. "Under the new system, customers will still need to get a cable card from their provider, but the agreement means, hopefully, technical glitches will be eliminated, "two-way" services will be available and there will be no need for the clunky boxes."

"The agreement is between Sony and the nation's six largest cable companies: Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc., Cox Communications Inc., Charter Communications Inc., Cablevision Systems Corp. and Bright House Networks. The six companies serve more than 82 percent of cable subscribers." I see that Verizon FiOS is not listed.

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