SBCA Fights Plug-and-Play

[Gregg Lengling]

The Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association, led by President Andrew Wright, recently approached staff with FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy's office concerning its opposition to the proposed plug-and-play proposal being pushed by cable and consumer electronics interests.

In a filing detailing the meeting, SBCA told the commissioner's staff that the FCC shouldn't take action on plug-and-play until it takes into consideration what impact the proposal could have on other interests, including satellite TV.

"As the trade organization representing several key players in the digital television transition, SBCA supports the FCC in its efforts to advance digital television," the organization said in its FCC filing. However, the SBCA said the plug-and-play proposal "failed to reflect the views of a collective market-based solution because it excluded several major industry parties such as SBCA, DBS and the content providers from its negotiation and drafting process."

The SBCA said the exclusion of the organization and its member companies from the plug-and-play discussions resulted in a proposal that would limit all players in the multichannel market to a lower cable standard, "instead of raising the standards and quality of cable to those of the best multichannel provider – the DBS industry," it said.

The association added that plug-and-play "is yet another effort by the cable industry to protect its monopoly by attempting to limit competition."