Not necessarily. This could be done through most of the existing equipment customers own. An iPad app just needs the right IP address to tune a digital video stream that's arriving via your existing cable modem / router. Same thing for a stand-alone IP set top. I saw a demo a few years ago at Cisco on this exact configuration that was part of their early 'TV anywhere' development. The box they were using was about $50 and available on NewEgg.com at the time. Worked beautifully.
"There are millions of homes and apartments around the country that have a TV connected to a cable but have no set-top box and no video service from their local cable provider"
If we need to provide these users with boxes, fine. But that's not what we're talking about here.
