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February 17, 2000
Cablerebuildmay causeservicedisruptionsUpgrade toincrease channel capacity, bring servicesBy KREMENA TODOROVA Journal Staff Writer NEW ULM - Cable service in New Ulm neighborhoods may be disrupted, as local cable provider Time Warner Cable starts switching customers to a new cable plant beginning on Feb. 21, Arlen Mattern, Public Affairs Administrator for Time Warner Cable, said earlier this week. "Localized outages may occur, usually for one day, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., as splicing takes place," Mattern said in a letter to Assistant City Manager Tom MacAulay. "Customers will be called as we come into their neighborhood and their cable service is affected." According to Scott Olson, Director of Engineering at Time Warner Cable, who met with city officials this week to explain the rebuild, service disruptions will be limited to the time between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Olson explained that the upgrade involves replacing cable, drops to homes and other equipment, to finish an overhaul of the system started in 1995/1996. The net effect will be a "very dramatic" increase in picture clarity and system reliability; uniformity of reception for different neighborhoods and TV sets; and ability to support 79 channels, up from the current 40-plus, said Olson. The upgrade, however, will not reflect on the quality of "off-air" channels, local channels such as 2, 10 and 11, that are currently transmitted with microwave technology. According to Mattern, customers will not see any changes in the lineup right away. The entire city will be switched to a new lineup at the completion of the rebuild, now projected for June. The initial draft of a new lineup includes adding, subject to change, Home and Garden Television, The Golf Channel, Turner Classic Movies, CNN-Sports Illustrated, Classic Sports, Superstation WGN, Sneak Prevue, The Movie Channel, Cinemax and Pay-Per-View, with channel locations and packaging still being developed. The Time Warner officials also said that the upgrade will make the system capable of handling premium services such as Pay-Per-View, a "parental lockout" option, and an "interactive viewing guide" - an onscreen TV guide which can be customized. Because these premium services, however, will require changes in "head-end" equipment, officials did not specify a timeframe for their introduction. Olson declined to comment on the packaging and pricing of the cable services that will result from the restructuring, citing an ongoing decision-making process.
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