[mythtv-users] No More Free DTAs From Comcast

[Kirk Bocek]

On 9/10/2013 2:02 PM, Gary Buhrmaster wrote:
> On Tue, Sep 10, 2013 at 8:14 PM, Kirk Bocek <t004 at kbocek.com> wrote:
>> Called Comcast to make a change to my account here in the San Francisco Bay
>> Area and discovered that as of a month ago they started charging $1.99 a
>> month for my two DTAs. These used to be the two free DTA's you got as part
>> of the digital transition.
> That sort of makes a CableCard tuner cost effective (since as
> I recall a CableCard rental is ~$5/month in the SF Bay Area,
> for up to 6 streams depending on vendor of the capture device
> you purchase).

It's actually even better for me. By not taking an HD cable box, Comcast 
treats my first (and only) CableCard as my free and included access 
device. On top of it, I'm getting a $2.50 customer provided equipment 
discount. Hey, every little bit helps.

>
>
> Note that there may be another opportunity for "free" DTAs
> in a few months (HD-DTAs in this case), as Comcast starts
> to encrypt basic cable (the B1 tier) in the SF Bay Area(*).  As
> part of the waiver agreement with the FCC, Comcast promised
> free HD-DTAs for two years (as long as you ask during the
> change over), with the price after that also depending on market
> conditions.  So, when you get your notification, decide if you
> want one/two of those new(er) HD-DTAs "just in case".
>

Is this confirmed? Are there finally going to be "HD-DTAs" and not just 
the choice between the full-blow cable boxes or these really minimal, 
analog-only DTAs? It sure can't cost that much to add an HDMI port to 
something simple along the lines of one of these little boxes.