Audio Video News

Verizon and Intel have asked the Federal Communications Commission to mandate ethernet ports in video devices.

They complain that the card-based Tru2Way standard for encrypted video delivery is "cable centric," and not suitable for Verizon, which offers IP-based video via fiber. So they want the FCC to "urge CE manufacturers...to take steps now to future-proof their devices and ensure compatibility with video providers" so that "the technological shift does not end before it reaches the television set."

However, Verizon and Intel may be barking up the wrong tree. Unlike the original unidirectional CableCARD, which was adopted in an FCC-brokered agreement between TV makers and cable operators, Tru2Way is being adopted by the two industries without the involvement of the FCC. Will the FCC, having stepped back from the CableCARD mess, be willing to step back in to smooth the way for wider adoption of telco TV?