Kevin Maney (1.30.07)
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/maney/2007-01-30-carterfone_x.htm
FCC chairman to enforce a provision in the 1996 Telecommunications Act that will force cable carriers to provide descrambling codes to competitors. This may also have effect on similar cellphone-carrier links in the future.
Cable companies will have to unbundle the cable system by sharing the descrambling code with other device makers. The cable industry has gotten deadline extensions ever since 1996, but the current extension runs out on July 1, and Martin says he doesn't want to allow another one.
One certain outcome: A TiVo or Microsoft will be able to sell a box that connects to the cable line and the Internet. It will pull in cable channels, Web-based video and downloadable movies, mix them all together and present them on screen in a single menu. (Cable companies despise that because they lose control of the viewing experience.)
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin believes this deregulation will inspire innovation in the cable industry. It is also known that he has is looking next to the similar monopolies network providers have over cellphones. Though no action has been taken to allow cellphones to work across all networks, both consumers and manufacturers have expressed this desire.
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