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Article: Cable box change could hike bill
- Article from:
- Capital (Annapolis)
- Article date:
- June 21, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2007 Capital (Annapolis). Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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CHICAGO - On the gizmo glamour scale, the TV set-top box is a bit
of a frump - something the cable company dumps on the doorstep, not
the quarry of a shopping spree at Best Buy.
But next month, a new federal rule goes into effect that's aimed
at creating a retail market for set-top boxes and fostering more
competition and innovation in a business dominated by Schaumburg,
Ill.-based Motorola Inc. and one other company.
While that may sound like admirable policy, some cable equipment
analysts doubt it will work well: They say consumers will be
reluctant to pay a few hundred bucks for a box when they can rent one
for a few dollars a month, as they do now. Electronics manufacturers,
including TV ...