Archive for February, 2009
DirecTV Price Increase
Of course, the most significant savings with Suddenlink can be found in bundled packages of TV, Internet, and phone service — something that DirecTV just can’t do.
Common Ground on Broadband Stimulus Funds
Per a report at CableTechTalk …
The letter … supports unifying the $9 billion in broadband grant funding at NTIA; suggests that infrastructure funding should be targeted to areas without broadband service; and proposes that private broadband providers should be eligible to receive funding directly without the need for prior approval from governmental agencies.
New Deadline for DTV Transition
Following up on the U.S. Senate vote last week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted yesterday to give TV stations until June 12 to discontinue their analog broadcasts and transmit digital-only broadcasts* — however, some TV stations have already completed this switch, and others are expected to switch by the original deadline (Feb. 17) or at some other time before June 12.
For households that have older TV sets and still receive their TV channels the old-fashioned way — via antenna — the new law and date mean this: If you don’t purchase and hook up an analog-to-digital converter box, or subscribe to cable or another such service, you could start losing channels soon. One or more TV stations might switch to digital on Feb. 17, and the rest at some point between Feb. 17 and June 12.
Bottomline: It’s never too early to get ready — and if you haven’t tried cable service but would like to, we’d be happy to get you connected. Visit our main Web site and enter your zip code to find information on how to contact us and schedule an installation appointment.
For common questions about the digital or DTV transition, check here.
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Winter Storm Recovery Continues in Arkansas
With electricity back online, so are Suddenlink services. As of 11 a.m. today, more than 95% of Suddenlink-served homes in Newport, Ark., were back to normal. Jonesboro, Ark., was close to the same threshhold.
Though not as far along, restoration efforts by power-company crews continue in other impacted areas served by Suddenlink, including Pocahontas, Walnut Ridge, and Mt. Home. In the latter two communities, according to a story in The Batesville Daily Guard, Entergy Arkansas has opened “customer information centers” — at City Hall, 720 S. Hickory Street, in Mt. Home; and at 109 Southwest Front Street in Walnut Ridge.
Per the Daily Guard story:
These centers provide an opportunity for customers to speak face-to-face with [power] company representatives for local information about outages, progress in restoring power and other issues. Hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, including Sunday.
DTV and Bipartisanship at the FCC
They’ll likely need all the inter-party cooperation they can muster if a delay in the DTV transition is approved by Congress this week. Dozens of TV stations, citing cost concerns, are expected to flood the FCC with requests to switch to digital-only broadcasts on the original date (Feb. 17) or shortly thereafter.
Net: Regardless of what happens in Congress, the safest bet is to get ready for the transition now. If you’re a Suddenlink customer, you’re good to go. If not, please take some time to consider your options.
UPDATED: Winter Storm Aftermath
For prior reports, see below.
While virtually all Suddenlink areas impacted by last week’s storms have returned to a “business as usual” state, restoration efforts continue in a handful of areas where commercial power is still out.
In Jonesboro, Ark., Suddenlink crews are keeping pace with electric crews, which have now restored power for more than 90% of the community. Similar levels of restoration have been achieved in Newport, Ark.
Restoration levels are up significantly for Mt. Home residents, although still in the 60% range, while the smaller communities of Walnut Ridge and Pocahontas wait patiently as utility and cable crews continue their work.
According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, “more than 300,000 homes and businesses remained without power” yesterday in Northern Arkansas.
Despite the conditions, Suddenlink crews continued working to make sure company services are available to customers as soon as possible if not immediately after commercial power is restored. (Outages are generally related to the loss of commercial power or downed cable wires near customer homes.)
In the Jonesboro, Pocahontas, and Walnut Ridge, Ark., area, company engineers estimate that the number of customers who have had both commercial power and Suddenlink services restored has more than tripled in the last 24 hours. Notable progress has also been reported in Grayson, Ky., as well as Newport, Batesville, and Mt. Home, Ark., with the latter still the hardest hit of the impacted cable systems.
All other major Suddenlink areas that were hit by the storms are now reporting restoration of services in the 95 to 100 percent range.
Suddenlink crews will continue to work closely with electric utility crews throughout the weekend and next week until operations are back to normal.
In the wake of the winter storms that hit much of the central and northern U.S. this week, Suddenlink crews continue their efforts to help make sure company services are available to customers as soon as possible after commercial power is restored. That work is naturally concentrated in the hardest-hit areas, which continue to include Pomeroy, Ohio; Grayson, Ky.; Pauls Valley, Okla., and — in Arkansas — Mt. Home, Jonesboro, Pocahontas, Walnut Ridge, Newport, and Batesville.
