Panasonic officials complained to FCC that delays in CableLabs’ O...
Panasonic officials complained to FCC that delays in CableLabs’ OpenCable standards process were stymieing development of competitive digital cable set-top boxes and integrated DTV sets for retail sale. In new ex parte filing with Commission, Panasonic said “final implementation…
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of important services such as electronic program guide (EPG) and impulse pay-per-view (IPPV) requires additional work in the CableLabs process,” delaying production of rival digital cable boxes. Panasonic officials, who gave FCC staffers tour of their DTV development lab in Westampton, N.J., said they were studying alternative means of testing and delivering EPG and IPPV services in their planned set-tops but said cable operators and CableLabs had not cooperated. Panasonic also complained that CableLabs’ PHILA license for digital copyright protection technology had device specifications that were “unnecessary and inappropriately rigid with respect to product features and thus preclude flexibility needed by manufacturers to develop innovative products of interest to consumers and helpful to the DTV transition.” Executives said they were eager to “develop ‘cable-ready’ products” and believed “such products would be well accepted by consumers” and would “provide additional revenue sources to cable operators.”