Complete Story
01/26/2017
Congressional Republicans tell Pai to officially kill Wheeler’s set-top proposal
House Republicans have told incoming FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to take his newfound authority, strike down former Chairman Tom Wheeler’s pay-TV set-top proposal, and his journey to join the powerful forces of deregulation will be complete.
“We are writing to ask that you close the docket on the set-top box proceeding … and signal clearly to consumers, content producers, consumer electronics manufacturers and video programming distributors that the Commission’s consideration of its set-top proposal is at an end,” read a letter (PDF) penned by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and co-signed by 19 other GOP committee members.
In September, Wheeler tabled his highly controversial proposal to open the leased pay-TV set-top business to third-party technology companies. The proposal, which in its final iteration had pay-TV operators rendering their services through apps that could be used on a wide range of third-party devices, was dealt a fatal blow on Nov. 8, when Republicans secured the presidency and both houses of Congress, thus leading to the departure of Democrat Wheeler.
