Suddenlink FYI

Suddenlink and four other cable operators are asking the FCC to establish a “quiet period,” starting later this year and running through May of next year. The reason: To help avoid any confusion that might be created by the overlap of “retransmission consent” negotiations and the DTV transition.

We’ve already written here about the DTV transition. “Retransmission consent” is an artifact of a 1992 law and it essentially works this way:

If a TV station chooses to be a retransmission-consent station, cable operators must (per federal law) negotiate with the TV station for permission (consent) to carry that station’s signal on their cable systems.

If those negotiations break down, the TV station has the right to prohibit the cable operator from “retransmitting” its signal. If the cable operator is already carrying the TV station’s signal, the TV station can force the cable operator to drop that signal.

In recent years, this scenario has played itself out all-too-frequently. Regular readers of this blog may remember the situation Suddenlink faced with KXAN in the Austin TV market. And we’re certainly not alone.

Such issues could be further complicated later this year, when the five cable companies involved in this request face retransmission-consent negotiations covering more than eight million households. If even a portion of those negotiations break down, several million homes could be told they’re going to lose broadcast TV stations at the same time they’re being told they won’t lose those stations during the DTV transition.

The requested “quiet period” would prevent this potential confusion by requiring both the cable operators and the TV stations to maintain the status quo until May 2009, well after the digital transition should be completed.

And who exactly benefits from this scenario? The consumer.

Here’s hoping the FCC acts on the request in a timely manner.

In the category of semi-old news, nearly all of Suddenlink’s largest markets were named to Forbes magazine’s list of 179 “Best Small Places for Business and Careers,” published last month.

The Suddenlink cities and their ranking on the Forbes‘ list were:

If you’re looking for an easy-to-read, comprehensive briefing paper on the February 2009 digital transition, here’s one resource that fits the bill.

As long-time supporters of the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life fundraiser, members of Suddenlink’s Parkersburg, W. Va., team added a twist (and a cut) to their participation this year.

On April, 5, nine employees, three of their children and several friends went to a local hair salon to donate their ponytails to Locks of Love, a program that makes wigs for children who have lost their hair as a result of cancer treatments.

When the cutting was done, 36 ponytails totaling 399 inches (more than 33 feet) were headed to Locks of Love. The Suddenlink-Parkersburg team also held a bake sale during the clipping, raising additional money for the Relay for Life event, which will be held locally on May 16 and 17.

Rumors are stubborn things. Hopefully, facts are even more stubborn.

And the facts are these: Suddenlink cable TV customers do NOT need to order digital equipment from us to continue receiving our Basic and Expanded Basic services. In fact, cable TV customers will continue to have access to our Basic and Expanded Basic services — WITHOUT digital equipment — after the February 2009 digital transition and for the foreseeable future.

Local entrepreneurs introduced cable to Charleston, W. Va., in 1967. At the time, they had four employees and offered five channels for $5 a month.

From that humble beginning, the Charleston cable system is now owned by Suddenlink and offers a full array of advanced TV, Internet, and phone services. Approximately 700 dedicated employees work in the sytem, maintaining more than 8,000 miles of cable lines and equipment and serving more than 200,000 customers in four states: Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia.

Suddenlink acquired this flagship cable system from Charter Communications on July 1, 2006 — a purchase that made Suddenlink the largest company of its kind in W. Va. (Beyond Charleston, the cable system also serves several of the state’s other major cities, including Beckley, Logan, Princeton, and Parkersburg.)

On March 18, Suddenlink’s national network recorded its first day handling more than 3 million phone calls — up a half million per day since Jan. 2.

The company is rapidly approaching 115,000 total phone customers, many of whom have bundled Suddenlink Phone with Suddenlink TV and/or Internet services, resulting in significant savings during these challenging economic times.

Suddenlink Phone uses IP technology to transport calls over the company’s own, private, managed IP-based network, never traversing the public Internet. As a standard part of its service, Suddenlink offers unlimited local and domestic long-distance calls, plus a set of popular calling features. Suddenlink Phone also provides automatic access to the FCC-mandated Enhanced 911 system and is compatible with most modern alarm monitoring equipment.

To learn more or to order Suddenlink Phone, start here.

A recent Associated Press story suggests that cable TV customers may need to lease a set-top box from their cable company prior to the DTV transition on Feb. 17, 2009. That’s not the case for Suddenlink customers.

Our customers only need a set-top box if they want access to our Digital cable service. To continue receiving our Basic and/or Expanded Basic service, customers don’t need to do anything, if our cable lines are already connected to their TV sets.

Know the facts on the DTV transition.