Big Cable has just been dealt a big — and maybe mortal — blow.

If you are a Comcast or Time Warner Cable subscriber, you're familiar with that trapped feeling: you don't really have any options to get cable besides your set-top box, and the customer service pains and high costs that go with it.

On Thursday, the U.S. government took its first big, official step to end that system.

The Federal Communications Commission has adopted a series of proposed rules that would allow customers to begin using cable boxes from companies other than their cable provider.

In fact, consumers will be able to get cable TV from a multitude of devices, when the technology catches up. That could include Apple TV, Fire TV, Android TV and Roku boxes.

That means you could have an Apple TV and, assuming you have a cable subscription, grab your Comcast subscription and throw it in there alongside Netflix, Hulu and Spotify.

The upshot: users could benefit from a sudden influx of competition — and, as a result, lower prices — for how cable TV content ends up on their televisions.

Consumers would still need a cable subscription, but they could watch cable nearly anywhere.

It's far from official yet, though the FCC vote is a significant step. The rules will now go through a comment period before an official vote for adoption.

Currently, cable and satellite TV subscribers are forced to rent whatever set top boxes are offered by their TV provider.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler tweeted out that this competition is the ultimate goal of the rules.

Today, there is limited competition in set-top boxes. When competition exists, prices go down and innovation goes up. #Unlockthebox 2/5 — Tom Wheeler (@TomWheelerFCC) February 16, 2016

Wheeler has complained about the cable industry and its lack of choice before.

Nice video interview with @TomWheelerFCC on cable box reform via @b_fung https://t.co/AjkiFZFMNt — Alex Fitzpatrick (@AlexJamesFitz) February 10, 2016

Senator Edward J. Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, applauded the move in a press release sent soon after the vote.

'The FCC’s new framework for innovators and companies to develop new technologies that allow consumers to access video programming without having to rent a box from their pay-TV provider is smart, fair and a long time in coming," Markey said in the statement. "The FCC’s action will help ensure that consumers are not captive to high video box leasing fees forever."

The end of Big Cable

Under the new rules, cable companies would be required to provide certain information to other companies — such as channel listings and on-demand offerings — that could then be accessed through their products.

People would still need to have paid cable TV subscriptions, but would be able to access that content through any number of devices.

If approved, tech companies like Google, Apple and Amazon stand to be among the biggest winners.

Currently, they can't offer devices that integrate cable tv, which remains the content centerpiece for hundreds of millions of Americans.

Now, with this change, Amazon could conceivably offer a new type of Echo that can loop in TV along with its other capabilities.

Ending the cable industry's set-top box dominance also has big ramifications for low-income and minority users.

Consumer advocates have argued that content featuring minorities or in languages other than English is often extremely hard to find.

Allowing for set-top box competition would encourage companies to make products that better serve that content to users who want it.

The rules have faced plenty of push back from the cable industry and will continue to do so. The FCC vote came out 3-2, with both Republican commissioners voting against the rules proposal. Cable companies have staunchly opposed the change, and are reportedly readying a coalition of more than 40 companies to rally against the change.

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