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Switzerland to impose open cable box market
Jörn Krieger ©RapidTVNews | 10-02-2010
Through new legislation Switzerland wants to prescribe the development of an open set-top-box market for cable households as is already the case with DTH and DTT reception.
With the proposed change of law, announced by communications regulation authority UVEK, cable operators will be obliged to offer their customers a digital basic package of at least 50 TV channels which they can receive through set-top-boxes available in the open retail market. The bouquet has to be accessible by inserting an add-on stick, for example a conditional access module for CI slots, and must not be more expensive for customers than subscribing to the digital basic package using receivers which are offered directly by the cable operator.
The solution can be seen as a compromise which also takes into account the interests of cable operators as they will be allowed to continue employing basic encryption on their digital basic package. Consumer protectors requested dropping the controversial practice of encrypting TV channels on cable networks which are available free-to-air on other distribution platforms such as satellite and DTT.
The operators of IPTV platforms, such as telco Swisscom, are exempt from the new regulation for two years as this is a new industry segment with very limited availability of set-top-boxes in the retail market. Until May 10 interested parties can submit statements on the proposed regulation for which the Swiss Parliament gave the green light in June 2009.
The initiative follows criticism from consumer protector Simonetta Sommaruga of the business practice of the country’s largest cable operator Cablecom. According to Sommaruga, the encryption of domestic and foreign free-to-air channels, as practised by Cablecom, is “competitively scandalous” and “media politically undesirable”. Forcing customers to acquire a certain set-top-box from Cablecom is “impermissible customer retention”, she complained.
© Rapid TV News 2010
