LOS ANGELES _ Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler wants consumers to be able to say goodbye to their cable set-top boxes.
In a Los Angeles Times op-ed piece published Thursday, Wheeler is proposed a new rule that would require cable and satellite video companies to offer consumers the option to receive their channels through apps that provide streaming video over the internet.
"If adopted, consumers will no longer have to rent a set-top box, month after month," Wheeler wrote. "Instead, pay-TV providers will be required to provide apps _ free of charge _ that consumers can download to the device of their choosing to access all the programming and features they already paid for."
Such a service would allow consumers to watch cable channels over on an internet-connected television or device such as an Xbox, Roku or AppleTV.
The proposal is designed to provide a cost savings to consumers who are required to pay a monthly fee for use of a set top box from the video provider.
Companies collect a total of $20 billion annually in rental fees, adding to the overall cost of cable or satellite service. Wheeler cited an analysis that said consumers pay an average of $231 annually for the use of a box.
"We keep paying these charges even after the cost of the box has been recovered because we have no meaningful alternative," Wheeler wrote.
Wheeler's plan gives large pay TV providers, such as Comcast and DirecTV, two years to offer streaming apps to their customers. Medium-sized companies would have an additional two years while smaller providers would be exempt.
About 90 percent of cable and satellite customers are served by the companies that will have to adopt the service in two years.
Cable companies already have the technology that offers their channels through apps, but the rental of a set-top box is required.
