Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 6, 1994 TAG: 9401060238
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FLOYD LENGTH: Long
Citizens Communications Corp. promises all the comforts of cable TV to unwired suburban and rural dwellers, but with better pictures and without a back yard satellite dish that resembles a military tracking station.
The new, nationwide DirecTv service eventually plans to bring dozens of channels to subscribers at comparable cost and greater convenience than big-dish systems thanks to the successful launch in December of the high-power satellite DBS-1 [direct broadcast satellite]. DBS-2 is set for launch next December.
``This is the first satellite service scheduled for residential use,'' said Jim Newell, who heads Citizens Communications, the local DirecTv franchisee.
The larger-dish systems that have sprouted behind houses in rural areas initially were designed for use by cable television companies, he explained. However DirecTv's 18-inch diameter dish - about the size of a large pizza - is expected to have much greater aesthetic appeal, and may pass muster in areas where zoning codes have restricted big dishes.
Unlike its bigger brother, the small satellite dish is fixed in position when it's installed, since all channels will come from the same relative point in the sky. Picture and sound quality are expected to be superior to existing, big-dish satellite systems that get programs from several satellites and have to be aimed.
``This is digital. That's the big difference,'' Newell said. The DBS satellite will use 120-watt transponder - the device that beams out the program channels - several times more powerful than the current generation of C-band and Ku-band satellites. The more powerful the signal, the smaller the dish needed to pick it up, he said.
For the dish and a receiver-decoder, which the company will install, the price will range from $700 for the basics to $1,300 for one that will let you watch different channels on separate sets. Installation will cost another $100 to $200.
Citizens Communications already has signed up more than 150 customers who will be able to see about 20 channels at first, including CNN, The Disney Channel, The Discovery Channel, Country Music Television and others. Premium channels will be available on a pay-per-view basis at the touch of a button. DirecTv plans to offer approximately 150 channels once the second satellite goes up, Newell said.
Programming will be beamed to the satellite from a site under construction in Colorado. A process called video compression on some program material will enable more channels per satellite.
``All of the programming ... has not been finalized,'' Newell said. Neither has the monthly charge, although he expects it to run around $20 for basic service. A connection with the customer's telephone line will permit DirecTv to bill viewers for any premium channels and pay-per-view offerings they select each month.
Monthly charges for a typical big-dish customer range from $10 to $25 for the same or more desireable channels, and hardware can cost $2,000 or more, depending on its sophistication.
But, at least one dealer of the larger C-band home dishes doesn't view DBS as a threat. Bob Duncan of the Curtis-Mathes store in Christiansburg said DBS is an unproven and limited system, with the small dish size its biggest advantage.
``There's still a lot on C-band that's free,'' he said. In addition, he points out that the older systems offer greater variety from over two dozen program sources, while DBS viewers will be limited to the DirecTv satellite's channels.
DirecTv is a joint venture involving GM Hughes Electronics and the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative, a consortium of rural and suburban power and telephone companies. Citizens Communications, which is owned by the Floyd County telephone cooperative, has paid a hefty franchise fee - Newell declined to give a figure - to become a part of the new age of broadcasting.
Even though Newell hopes DBS takes off in a big way, he views big and small dishes as complementary, not competitive, services. His company already handles program subscriptions and descramblers for 100 or so owners of big dishes in and around Floyd County.
``The big dish is here to stay,'' he said. ``I don't think this will make the big dish obsolete.''
Still, he predicts that when some of the existing big dish equipment wears out, some owners will convert to the small dishes, which have no moving parts to fail and take up less room.
Newell hopes to break even within the first two years of operation.
Although Citizens Communications Corporation holds the franchise from DirecTv for the Floyd County area, the company can sell programming and equipment to anybody, Newell said. However, DirecTv, not Citizens Communications, would handle customer billing and service.
RCA dealers, such as Curtis-Mathes, will also sell and install equipment for the new satellite TV system, which eventually may be available through retail stores.
by CNB