A & E

For months, TV viewers have been told by government and by the media that if they already subscribe to cable, there's no need to worry about the coming transition to digital broadcasting.

So cable customer Doris Spurk was surprised to learn that thanks to the transition, she would have to rent a converter box for $5.95 per month, per television set, plus pay for a $60 service call to install it. With five televisions in her home, the conversion would increase her bill by 75 percent.

"It really ticks us off," the 63-year-old central Florida resident said. "If they are in the right and can do this -- charge these prices -- then the educational effort that the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is doing is really misleading everybody."

Thus far, government and the broadcast industry have focused consumer-education efforts regarding the transition on viewers of over-the-air television programming. But there's been little about how the transition will affect most cable subscribers, including customers of six small to midsize providers in Western Pennsylvania.

Smaller cable systems are expected to have a more difficult time with the transition.

Customers of small cable operators in Western Pennsylvania shouldn't face additional charges, "but that remains to be seen," said Matthew M. Polka, CEO of the American Cable Association, a Pittsburgh-based trade group that represents 1,100 smaller providers.

Two Westmoreland County companies, Citizens Cable Communications and Laurel Highland Television Co., said the transition shouldn't cost customers more.

Dennis Cutrell, general manager of Citizens Cable, said that company already has an all-digital system and will convert digital signals to analog for its 3,600 subscribers in the Unity and Mt. Pleasant Township regions.

"We'll have to provide that for our customer base, and we are going to have to absorb the cost," he said. Customers pay $40 a month now for 69 channels, he said, though rates are likely to continue rising because of increased programming costs.

The congressionally mandated transition requires all full-power television stations to broadcast only in a digital format starting in mid-February. Anyone with a non-digital television who uses an antenna will need a converter box. The government is giving out two $40 coupons per household to subsidize the cost of the boxes, and about 10 million coupons have been requested so far.

There are about 65 million basic cable subscribers in the United States, according to the National Cable and Telecommunications Association. About 37 million of them are digital subscribers, meaning they most likely have a set-top box. Those customers will not be affected by the broadcast transition, regardless of the age of their television.

The remaining 28 million customers receive analog service -- meaning they probably plug their cable wire from the wall straight into the TV and not a set-top box.

Big cable companies such as Comcast Corp., the nation's largest and the dominant provider in Pittsburgh, are expected to pump both digital and analog signals through their systems.

"There won't be changes in prices because the broadcast channels are going digital," said Comcast spokeswoman Sena Fitzmaurice. "But there may be changes in prices and services for other reasons."

Two other Western Pennsylvania providers, Armstrong Cable and Atlantic Broadband, also will convert the signals as needed for customers, at no extra charge.

"We have gone to big extremes to make sure nothing will change for them" come next February, said Dave Wittman, Armstrong's vice president of cable marketing. The company has 235,000 TV subscribers in a territory stretching from Butler County north to Meadville and east to Connellsville.

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