From the Pinewood Derby to collegiate sports, the BCSN networks carry local sports that are of interest to residents of the Toledo and Lima, Ohio area. There are several things that make the BCSN networks unique:

• The content creation is through a partnership with Buckeye CableSystem and its sister organization, the Toledo Blade newspaper. Together, they provide rich sports content that is of interest to the community.
• It is live content streamed via IP to authenticated iOS and Android devices (viewers must be customers of Buckeye CableSystem’s video service).
• There are plans to add on-demand content to this over-the-top solution, as well as make it available directly to the television without the need for a third-party IP set-top.

This platform, which has been years in the making, lays the foundation for the transition from QAM to IP for Buckeye CableSystem’s delivery of video services.

The next step in this transition is in the regulatory realm and, in the above interview, Buckeye CableSystem’s EVP of Cable & Telecommunications, Joe Jensen, discusses their March 2014 request for a waiver of CableCARD rules which would allow Buckeye CableSystem to create a combination set-top that incorporates a DTA (Digital Terminal Adaptor – a low-cost QAM set-top) with an Internet Protocol video receiver.¹  Jensen suggests the addition of a CableCARD into this combination would effectively double the cost of the set-top. He reports that one FCC official described what Buckeye CableSystem proposes as, “Duct taping a Roku box to a DTA.”

What it means is that Buckeye CableSystem is blending QAM with IP content, whether the content is supplied by Buckeye CableSystem or third-parties. In this scenario, a common navigation method would be used, eliminating the need for the consumer to have to switch TV inputs or use different remote controls as the source of content changes (e.g. from cable supplied to third-party).

As Jensen suggests, their proposed approach will allow for more efficient use of their network during the transition to IP, as compared to operating parallel IP and QAM systems. It also provides an extensible approach, whereby their channel line-up could easily be provided to non set-top devices, such as tablets and smartphones; like what they are doing today with the BCSN Networks.

On the surface, it is somewhat surprising that there would be any objection to the request for this waiver, given that there are only 600K+ CableCARDs in third-party devices purchased by consumers, compared to a universe of 45+ million CableCARD devices leased from cable companies. In its waiver and subsequent replies, Buckeye CableSystem states that they will continue to support existing and new CableCARD deployments.

The loudest objection to the waiver is coming from TiVO, a supplier of DVR set-top boxes to cable operators, as well as supplier of retail set-top boxes. Their overarching concern is that, as cable operators transition to IP transport, the retail market for cable set-tops is not eliminated. They argue that the FCC needs to create a rulemaking, instead of continuing to issue CableCARD waivers (see Charter, Cablevision), to protect existing CableCARD users as well as ensuring a retail set-top market as cable MVPDs (Multichannel Video Program Distributors) transition to IP from QAM.

In reply to TiVo’s comments on Buckeye CableSystem’s waiver, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) reinforces the idea that the FCC should create a rulemaking, instead of a waiver:

“Rather than gradually weakening the aging CableCARD approach through a series of ad hoc decisions, the Commission should open a rulemaking to implement Section 629 consistent with today’s technologies, by requiring cable operators to use IP security standards that are made available to retail device manufacturers.”

In its comments supporting Buckeye CableSystem’s position, Charter argues that waivers, like the one it was granted in 2013 to implement downloadable security, allow innovation to flourish. Charter suggests that the competitive video market is forcing it to meet customers wherever they are and whatever device they are using (tablets, smart phones, computers).  They suggest that non-cable MVPDs (satellite, IPTV, ) have been able to innovate because they don’t have the same FCC mandated integration or “plug and play” rules.

Whatever the outcome of the FCC’s decision on Buckeye CableSystem’s waiver request, this is clearly another skirmish in the battleground that is the IP transition.

¹The CableCARD, an outcome of the FCC’s rules implementing section 629 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, mandates that cable operators implement a standardized, separable security module that plugs into 3rd party devices (e.g. TVs, set-tops, etc.) that consumers purchase via the retail market. The objective and promise of the legislation was to drive innovation and lower costs by decoupling Consumer Premise Equipment from the cable service provider;  similar to what happened when the telephone was decoupled from the service provider through the FCC’s Carterfone decision.

² To read the Buckeye CableSystem Waiver Filing and the subsequent comments go to: http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/proceeding/view?name=14-42