AREA HAS NEW CABLE PROVIDER

Cable television service in Cape Girardeau County won't change much with a switch to Charter Communications, but high-speed Internet service, digital programming and more channels are just around the corner, Charter officials say.

The switch from Falcon Telecable became effective Monday and was announced Tuesday by Charter Communications. Charter is headquartered in St. Louis and serves 6.2 million customers.

The companies announced the pending sale in May but knew it would take months to finalize all the arrangements. Charter paid $3.6 million for the Falcon operations.

Nearly all of Southeast Missouri's cable television service will be provided through Charter Communications, including service in Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

The company is expanding both its service and staff in the area, said Roger Harms, general manager of the local office. "Right now we are in the process of upgrading," said Harms, who was with Falcon and now with Charter.

The project includes upgrading lines in Cape County with fiber optic cable at a cost of more than $15 million. The fiber optic overlays should help cut down on service interruptions. The upgrades won't initially be completed everywhere in Cape Girardeau, but some areas will notice changes, Harms said.

The transition will be seamless, said Dave Miller, senior vice president of operations for the central region. The change is more than just signs and a new name, he said. "This philosophical and cultural change has at its core putting the customer first in everything we do," Miller said.

Customers will be kept informed about when the fiber optics construction is complete and additional channels added, Miller said. Charter wants to make the community a place "where technology is consumer friendly and focused on helping people work, play and learn," he said.

The Cape Girardeau City Council approved a charter change with the company during a meeting Monday night. Basically, the changes will give Charter an eight-month extension to finish its upgrade and provide a much stronger system, said City Manager Michael Miller.

Charter had also been paying $25,000 per year to support the public access Channel 5 used by the city. That figure has now increased to $30,000 per year, and an additional channel devoted to education has been added.

The Cape Girardeau School District has been advertising a teaching position in broadcast media and hopes to offer classes in the fall at the Career and Technology Center.

Students in the broadcast classes would meet in a classroom that doubles as a television studio so they can work on programming and production. "We hope to do some live remotes as well," said Harold Tilley, director of the Career and Technology Center.

No final arrangements have been set between the cable company, city and school district about how the channel will operate, he said. Any educational programming, meetings or notices likely will be aired on the educational access channel, freeing up time on the city's channel.

"We are still working out an agreement about what is best," Tilley said.

Currently city council meetings and school board meetings are aired on Channel 5. Having a public access channel is another means of "getting information out to people," Michael Miller said.

Other programming on the channel generated by the city is aired each Tuesday night from 6:30 to 9. Programming airs Sunday through Thursday.