MSOs DEAL WITH DCT-2000 DEFECT

As if inflated cable rates weren't shocking enough, an announcement by Motorola late in the week of the SCTE show had the potential to stand consumers' hair on end.

On June 7, Motorola announced it was recalling a small percentage of its DCT-2000 set-top boxes manufactured between March 1 and May 31 of 2002 because of a defect in the power plug. Although Motorola assured its partner MSOs that customers could continue to watch normal digital cable service through the boxes, the risk of potential electrical shock remained a primary concern.

Of the 1 million boxes shipped between those dates, the actual number of units that will be recalled is ?pretty small,? a Motorola spokesperson said.

Comcast, AT&T Broadband and Insight Communications were quick to respond to the recall.

Comcast said it expects to recall between 4,000 and 6,000 boxes, affecting less than 0.5% of its 2.5 million digital cable customers.

AT&T Broadband COO Ron Cooper didn't specify how many boxes his company would replace but did say many of the glitchy units are ?still in our warehouses.?

Insight also kept its numbers vague but insisted that it would replace every box manufactured since March 1.

Motorola did not say how much the recall of the set-top boxes would ultimately cost.

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