Comcast 2013 Annual Report Download - page 23

Table of Contents
directly by the cable operator. While we have not been required to devote significant channel capacity to leased access to date, the
FCC has adopted regulations that dramatically reduce the rates we can charge for leased access channels, although their
implementation has been stayed by a federal court pending the outcome of a challenge brought by us and other cable operators
and also has been blocked by the Office of Management and Budget. If implemented, these regulations could adversely affect our
business by significantly increasing the number of cable system channels occupied by leased access users and by significantly
increasing the administrative burdens and costs associated with complying with such regulations.
Cable Equipment
The FCC has adopted regulations aimed at promoting the retail sale of set-
top boxes and other equipment that can be used to
receive digital video services. With the exception of certain one-
way devices, like digital transport adapters, these regulations
prohibit cable operators from deploying new set-
top boxes that perform both channel navigation and security functions. As a result,
most set-
top boxes that we purchase must rely on a separate security device known as a CableCARD. In addition, the FCC has
adopted regulations aimed at promoting the manufacture of plug-and-
play TV sets and other equipment that can connect directly to
a cable system with a CableCARD and receive one-way video services without the need for a set-
top box. The regulations also
require cable operators to provide a credit to customers who use plug-and-
play equipment purchased at retail and to allow them to
self-
install CableCARDs rather than having to arrange for professional installation. A federal court vacated some of these
CableCARD rules in a decision in January 2013. The FCC has sought comment on an equipment manufacturer’
s proposal that the
FCC readopt these rules, and also has received requests that it supplant CableCARDs with another technology that would enable
retail video devices to work on any multichannel video provider system, not just a cable system. We are unable to predict what, if
any, proposals might be adopted or what effect they might have on our cable business.
In December 2013, we, other multichannel video providers, equipment manufacturers and other entities announced a voluntary
agreement taking steps to improve the energy efficiency of set-
top boxes. In response, the Department of Energy terminated a
rulemaking it had initiated in this area. However, proposals to impose energy efficiency requirements on set-
top boxes and network
equipment continue to be considered at the state level and we cannot predict what, if any, proposals might be adopted in the future.
In addition, the NBCUniversal Order requires us to fulfill commitments designed to improve the parental control tools and
information available to parents, including providing navigation and blocking capabilities for certain set-top boxes.
MDUs and Inside Wiring
FCC regulations prohibit exclusive video service access agreements between cable operators and MDUs or other private
residential real estate developments, as well as our enforcement of exclusivity provisions in any of our pre-
existing access
agreements. FCC regulations also facilitate competitors’ access to the cable wiring inside such properties.
Pole Attachments
The Communications Act permits the FCC to regulate the rates that pole-
owning utility companies (with the exception of municipal
utilities and rural cooperatives) charge cable systems for attachments to their poles. States are permitted to preempt FCC
jurisdiction and regulate the terms of attachments themselves, and many states in which we operate have done so. Most of these
states have generally followed the FCC’
s pole attachment rate standards. Until recently, the pole attachment rates applicable to
telecommunications services were significantly higher than the rates we currently pay for cable and other services. In February
2013, a federal court upheld the FCC’
s pole rate formula that reduces the rates for telecommunications service pole attachments to
levels that are at or near the rates for cable attachments, but utility companies are able to rebut certain presumptions in the new
formula, and it is expected that most will attempt to do so.
Comcast 2013 Annual Report on Form 10
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