NCTA, CTA Renew Set-Top Energy Savings Agreement

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NCTA-The Internet & Television Association and the Consumer Technology Association have extended their voluntary agreement on set-top box energy efficiency for a third time, through the end of 2025.

The Voluntary Agreement for Ongoing Improvement to the Energy Efficiency of Set-Top Boxes was struck in 2012 between the Consumer Technology Association, whose members make the boxes, and NCTA-The Internet & Television Association, whose members deploy them.

Also Read: Audit Shows MVPDs Meeting Energy Efficiency Goals

The associations said that since the agreement was struck, it has saved consumers $7 billion in energy costs and 39 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

The renewed agreement boosts energy efficiency commitments starting in 2023, translating, by the end of 2025, to set tops that use only one third of the energy they used in 2012.

Among the signatories to the agreement are AT&T/DirecTV, Comcast, Charter, Dish, Verizon, Cox, Altice, and Frontier.

Also Read: Energy Gold Star: CTA, NCTA Renew Set-Top Efficiency Pact

Dr. Kathleen Hogan, acting under secretary for science and energy at the Department of Energy, said DOE welcomed the extension and industry's "continued efforts of our industry partners to improve the energy efficiency of these products and save consumers money on their energy bills."

One energy-reducing factor has been the increasing use of laptops, tablets and smart phones to access video as an alternative to powering up a set-top.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.