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Salina, Kan., Residents Will Soon Get More Digital Cable Channels

Posted on: Saturday, 12 November 2005, 00:00 CST

By Darrin Stineman, The Salina Journal, Kan.

Nov. 12--More digital cable channels are on the way for Cox Communications customers in Salina, but whether that will mean added TV channels or telephone service remains to be seen.

Cox technicians began doing system upgrades in Salina on Oct. 3, and they will be completed sometime in early January, said Sarah Kauffman, events and educational coordinator for Wichita-based Cox Communications.

The upgrades are designed to provide larger broadband capacity, Kauffman said. That will make it possible to provide more channels and also enhance Cox's ability to offer other services, such as telephone.

"It just kind of paves the way for future services we can provide," she said.

On Nov. 2, Cox announced it will form a joint venture with Sprint Nextel, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Advance/Newhouse Communications that will allow the companies to provide the "Quadruple Play" of video, voice, Internet and wireless capabilities.

"Quadruple Play is in the works," Kauffman said, "but at this point in time, we don't have anything to report.

"The upgrade is the groundwork for additional programming," Kauffman said.

The system work will cause temporary outages, Kauffman said. So work that affects residences is being done during the day, and work on business systems will be done after 5 p.m.

Cox spends "tens of millions of dollars" yearly to upgrade its systems, including the $2 million for Salina's upgrade, she said.

The specific work being done in Salina has to do with upgrading the fiber optic system and installing "advanced electronics," Kauffman said.

"We wanted to do the upgrade because it allows us to provide uniformity and consistency across the state," she said, "and it is driven by customer demand."

When asked how much of the state hasn't yet been upgraded to the level Salina is receiving, Kauffman said that would be hard to define because upgrading is a constant effort.

"Cox continually fortifies and upgrades its systems," she said.

"Annually, it costs tens of millions of dollars."

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To see more of The Salina Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.saljournal.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, The Salina Journal, Kan.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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COX, S, CMCSK, TWX,

Source: The Salina Journal

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