The Federal Communications Commission has begun looking at ways to diversify the set-top box market by opening it up to third party providers.
The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking will be the framework for the changes, the FCC said in a press release Thursday.
Most cable consumers have been renting their box and paying more than $200 each year, according to WIRED. The organization also said that the cost of the boxes has risen 185 percent over the past 22 years. Cable companies currently earn more than $20 billion in revenue from the rental of the boxes, Bloomberg reports.
The changes proposed by the FCC would allow customers the freedom to choose their own box. This could open up the market to companies like Google, Apple or Amazon. They would simply need to create and market their own set-top boxes.
It may take two or three years for the new rules to come into play, Bloomberg reports. The process now moves into the comment stage where the FCC will hear from supporters and dissenters of the plan. It may then decide to revise it before moving forward with a final vote.
