--- description: President Barack Obama will announce support for opening the market for cable set-top boxes on Friday, a move to boost entrepreneurship title: Obama Wants to Let You Buy Your Own Cable Box image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3ba019f9571065b1/69888f4e2dce013af19e8ac1/obama-cable-box.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Regulation](/tag/regulation/) ## Regulation Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Obama Wants to Let You Buy Your Own Cable Box  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 15, 2016 3:06 PM CUT  President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the newly-designated Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument on April 12 in Washington, DC. President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the newly-designated Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument on April 12 in Washington, DC.Michael Reynolds—Pool/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 15, 2016 3:06 PM CUT President Barack Obama is pressing regulators and businesses to [open the market for cable boxes](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/16/us/politics/obama-set-top-boxes.html "undefined"), part of a broader initiative to boost entrepreneurship and increase industry competition. In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, Obama commented on a pending proposal, encouraging the agency to give the cable companies less control over the boxes, the New York _Times_ reported. The proposal, which was approved by the FCC in February, would allow customers to buy the cable boxes rather than leasing them from cable companies, according to the _Times_. In a [blog post](https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/04/15/ending-rotary-rental-phones-thinking-outside-cable-box "undefined") about Obama’s initiative, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers Jason Furman compared cable company control of set-top boxes to the monopoly phone companies once had on phones, noting that consumers pay an average of $231 per year to rent boxes he described as “clunky.” “Like the telephones in 1980s, that’s a symptom of a market that is cordoned off from competition,” Furman wrote. “And that’s got to change.” Tech companies looking to break into the TV market—including Google, Amazon and Apple– have supported the proposal, while the cable industry opposes it. Obama also issued an [executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/04/15/executive-order-steps-increase-competition-and-better-inform-consumers "undefined") asking every federal agency to send him proposals for steps they can take to increase competition, protect consumers and support the economy across industries, the _Times_ reported. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4295797/barack-obama-support-cable-boxes-open-market/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4295797/barack-obama-support-cable-boxes-open-market/"},"headline":"Obama Wants to Let You Buy Your Own Cable Box","datePublished":"2016-04-15T15:06:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:47:17.598Z","description":"He supports a proposal that allows customers to purchase, not lease, the boxes","url":"https://time.com/4295797/barack-obama-support-cable-boxes-open-market/","keywords":["Regulation","White House"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3ba019f9571065b1/69888f4e2dce013af19e8ac1/obama-cable-box.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3ba019f9571065b1/69888f4e2dce013af19e8ac1/obama-cable-box.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"obama-cable-box","caption":"President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the newly-designated Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument on April 12 in Washington, DC.","creditText":"Michael Reynolds—Pool/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/regulation/","name":"Regulation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4295797/barack-obama-support-cable-boxes-open-market/","name":"Obama Wants to Let You Buy Your Own Cable Box"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Tech School: Which TV Streaming Service is Right for You?","description":"With several new TV streaming options available, it can be hard to decide what to choose. 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