American Cable Association President and CEO Matthew M. Polka issued the following statement on Nov. 28 after the Federal Communications Commission's decided to provide small cable operators an additional three months to come into compliance with the recordable, IP-based output requirement for HD set-top boxes beyond the 18-month extension granted to the entire industry:

"The American Cable Association applauds the FCC for recognizing that smaller operators have historically had difficulty complying with equipment and software mandates when facing the same deadline as larger operators.  Instead of requiring small and medium-sized operators to file costly waivers in response to equipment and software shortages in the market, the FCC did the right thing by simply setting the deadline three months later for these operators," Polka said.

He added, "The FCC's decision is an excellent example of smart public policy, and ACA commends the FCC for granting an 18-month extension to the entire industry as well."

The extension modified the original December 1, 2012 deadline, established by the Commission in 2010, that required cable operators to ensure that the two-way HD set-top boxes that they provide, shall comply with an open industry standard that provides for home networking functionality.  For large cable operators, the new deadline is June 2, 2014.  For small cable operators, defined as those with 400,000 or fewer subscribers, the new deadline is September 2, 2014.