Switching off an outdated cable rule

[Commentary] It’s often the regulation you’ve never heard of that costs you real money. One such rule increases Americans’ cable and energy bills. This regulation from the Federal Communications Commission is known by the unwieldy name of the “integration ban.”

We believe that it’s time to repeal this outdated technological mandate. As of 2014, the nation’s largest cable companies have supplied 45 million of their own CableCARD-enabled set-top boxes to their customers. How many CableCARDs have been deployed for use in third-party retail devices? Only 606,000. That means that less than 1.4 percent of customers are choosing to purchase their set-top boxes through the retail market. Like so many other regulations, the integration ban has quickly become outdated.

Today, there are myriad avenues for consumers to access video content without using a set-top box supplied by a cable company or a CableCARD. Roku, Google, Amazon and Apple all offer streaming set-top boxes.

Consumers can now access cable programming through mobile applications, personal computers and tablets, and gaming consoles. The growing ubiquity of broadband can directly connect creators and consumers (think YouTube channels) without the need for any video distributor at all. In a market with so many options for video delivery, and so many unique market players, there is simply no need for an integration ban.

Competition has developed in the video market organically in ways that regulators did not envision. The CableCARD didn’t spur any of this progress. If anything, the FCC’s rigid technological mandate has inhibited innovation in this space.

[Rep Bob Latta, Ohio Republican, is vice chairman of the House Commerce communications and technology subcommittee]