Kevin Osterbur, Conxxus business manager, said laying the fiber optic system will begin this month. System completion is expected in May, Osterbur cautioned that several factors, including the weather, need to cooperate for that to happen.
The council accepted Conxxus' $4,000 application fee for a 10-year franchise agreement. Mediacom was not represented at the meeting.
Mediacom, which this year undertook a fiber optic upgrade of Paxton's cable system, is operating in the middle of its second three-month interim agreement after its 10-year franchise agreement expired earlier this month.
Approval excepted
The council is expected to approve a new 10-year agreement with Mediacom at the Oct. 8 meeting.
Final approval would then be needed by both companies.
Residents, however, have let city officials know of their displeasure over changes made by Mediacom following its cable system upgrade, most notably on-the-set premium-service boxes, which Mediacom said was necessary due to additional services.
Joe Poffenberger, Mediacom regional vice president, told the council in August that his company did a poor job communicating with its customers regarding service interruptions, price increases and use of the premium channel boxes.
Conxxus' Osterbur said his company's system will provide better value. It will be a completely new system, he said, plus local technicians and a customer support and payment office will be available.
Mayor James Kingston told Osterbur that one of his concerns regarding cable TV is the availability of service personnel.
After-hours inquiries and service outages will be handled by the company's customer support service, Osterbur said. Service technicians will be on call round the clock to respond to critical service calls. Routine service calls will be handled the next day, Osterbur said.
Preliminary design of the Conxxus system calls for about 22 miles of underground construction that will pass about 2,000 commercial and residential properties.
Basic cable
Cable offerings will include a 12-channel basic tier service and a 54-channel expanded basic service.
The 12-tier basic package will cost $11.95 monthly while the expanded basic package will cost $29.95 per month. Premium channel customers will be charged $10 a month.
In addition, Conxxus will offer data service/Internet access and telephone service.
Osterbur said Conxxus will not initially require set-top boxes for premium channels for its analog system.
"We believe service without the set-top box is the way people want to go," said Osterbur, adding that some type of converter may be necessary in the future, whether it be on the top of the television set or in the set.
Conxxus parent IlliCom serves more than 1,500 dial-up Internet and wireless Internet customers and 125 video customers.
In addition to IlliCom, a primary Conxxus owner is Gary Cooper of Ogden, owner of Easton Group. Cooper and Easton Group have built and repaired cable systems nationwide. Among Easton Group's projects was construction and operation of the Candlewick Estates cable plant near Rockford.
This is not Conxxus' first foray into cable television. The company already provides cable to a 518-unit apartment complex in Champaign. Osterbur said the company set up a small head end facility for the complex.
Growth potential
Osterbur said fiber optic cable will allow Conxxus to offer much more in the future. The system will provide "nearly limitless bandwidth capacity for all current and future telecommunications services," he said in the company's franchise application report.
Evolution of the video, data and voice services will necessitate the availability of broader bandwidth.
"An all-fiber...network is capable of meeting and exceeding the requirements of future service offerings such as IP video, video streaming, video on demand, interactive gaming and high definition television as well as incredible bandwidth to the public Internet," Osterbur said.
Kingston asked whether Conxxus would offer a public access channel similar to Mediacom's. City Hall office staff monitor and update the channel.
Osterbur said he would have no problem with a similar arrangement, with information submitted from City Hall via Internet.
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