
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 7, 1991                   TAG: 9102080058
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: N-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: FINCASTLE                                LENGTH: Medium

CABLE TV DELAYS CRITICIZED

A tight economy and lack of loan money were not sufficient explanations to keep Botetourt County supervisors from criticizing what they believe is slow progress in extending cable television in the county.

Members of the board spoke rather sharply last week to two representatives of the Tele-Media Co., the franchise holder for cable TV in the county.

Members of the board said they had received complaints from citizens in areas designated for cable expansion but where no progress is apparent.

Jerry Wert, the cable company's district manager, and Neal Cook, the company's supervisor in the Botetourt area, said the unavailability of loan money was the reason for construction delays.

Wert, who lives in Hopewell, said Tele-Media is not in financial trouble but it does not have sufficient cash for large construction projects, and no loans are available.

"If we can't borrow the money what are we to do?" he asked.

Both Wert and Cook said some complaints arose from misunderstandings caused by a lack of communication between the company and the people. In an effort to remedy that, Wert agreed with a suggestion by Wendy Wingo, the supervisors chairwoman, that the company needed to issue more frequent updates. Wert promised that would be done.

Cook told the supervisors that the current tight economy has nearly all cable companies facing the same trouble in trying to get loans. And prices continue to go up, he said, noting that it now costs about $18,000 a mile to lay TV cable, up from about $12,000 a few years ago, they said.

But members of the board of supervisors said that since cabletelevison was deregulated several years ago, cable companies have raised their rates almost 100 percent and have gained higher profits than ever.

And Supervisor Harold Wilhelm said loan interest rates are fairly normal now.

The other supervisors agreed with Wilhelm, and board member Webster Booze said the cable company has not done the construction it said it would do two years ago. He also said that people in the county had complained about difficulty reaching the cable company's office on the phone.

Wert said the company spent nearly $750,000 in 1990 installing about 40 miles of cable. The company would like to install another 25 to 30 miles this year, he said, but the lack of loans may prevent it.

Because of that, he said, "We're more or less on a holding pattern."

by CNB