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Insight
Communications of New York, N.Y., has finalized an agreement and
purchased the Logan County cable system as well as other Midwest
systems in a divestiture from the purchase of MediaOne by cable
giant AT&T.
The
move, in the works for several months, brought an end to speculation
and rumor regarding the end owners of our local cable system.
Insight,
a cable operation that is the eighth largest in the United States,
is concentrated primarily in the four contiguous states of Illinois,
Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and now has a 1.4 million subscriber
base with the new purchases in Illinois that include Springfield and
Lincoln.
According
to Kim Kelly, vice president of Insight, the addition of some
530,000 customers in this area will allow Insight Midwest to
increase services to all their clients within the next year. The
company specializes in offering bundled, state-of-the-art technology
in mid-sized communities, delivering analog and digital video, high
speed data and, in the near future, voice telephony to its
customers.
Bill
White, local cable manager, has stated that all employees and their
expertise have been retained by Insight and that nothing current
cable subscribers are comfortable with will change. The fact that
Insight is geared toward second-tier markets will in fact increase
cutting edge technology to be available to Lincoln residents sooner
rather than having to wait for a mass cable operator to employ such
technology in larger markets first.
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this article]
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To
underscore Insights’ involvement in smaller markets, Kim Kelly
explained what benefits are just around the corner for Illinois
cable subscribers:
"We are pleased to announce that Insight
Digital continues to be deployed throughout various service areas,
adding a whole new element to home entertainment. This means
enhanced video and audio, electronic program guides, as well as
expanded premium and pay-per-view services. Insight also is the
first cable operator to offer DIVA’s video-on-demand service,
OnSet, as part of a digital platform. With OnSet, trips to the video
store become a thing of the past…OnSet offers hundreds of movies
by genre, actor or alphabetically by title, and the selection
appears instantly! Since OnSet stores the film digitally, viewers
even have the capability to pause, rewind and fast forward."
Insight
has stated that many of their forward-thinking ideas will be
available within the year to subscribers throughout their base.
Insight,
listed on Nasdaq under ICCI, also owns Insight Midwest, which, with
co-owner AT&T, will be the controlling company for central
Illinois. This joint venture will allow Lincoln cable subscribers to
have cutting edge technology available in home entertainment without
having to wait for other larger markets to be serviced first.
Insight is interested in communities such as Lincoln, and the chance
to be in the forefront of home entertainment technology should be
exciting for all of us.
[Mike
Fak]
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Happy New
Year!
• MORNINGS ON MAIN —
Tuesday, Jan. 9, 8 a.m. at Sorrento's, 521 Broadway St. Coffee,
rolls and a chance for you to share your ideas with others concerned
about downtown Lincoln. Everyone
is welcome!
• ANNUAL MEETING —
Monday, Jan. 22, 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers (second floor
of City Hall). Acknowledgement of accomplishments, voting on new
board members and officers by current Main Street partners, plans
for the new year. Come and get in on the action!
• LOOKING FOR LINCOLN
MASTER PLAN MEETING — Wednesday, Jan. 24, 7 p.m. in the second
floor conference room at Union Planters Bank, 303 S. Kickapoo. Are
you interested in economic growth through heritage tourism? This is
the group that's making it happen! Join us!
• ECONOMIC
RESTRUCTURING COMMITTEE MEETING — Wednesday, Jan. 31, 5:30
p.m. in the Lincoln Public Library Annex Conference Room. Are you
concerned about the wide-open spaces in our downtown retail
environment? Then this is the group to get involved with! We're
developing a plan of action to fill the vacancies and revitalize the
area. Creative thinkers with a positive attitude needed.
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column in this section]
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• MAYORAL FORUM AT
MORNINGS ON MAIN - Tuesday, Feb. 13, 7:30 a.m. (note the time
change) at Sorrento's. We've invited all mayoral candidates to join
us and present their ideas and views on downtown Lincoln. In
preparation, we're asking YOU to write down and send your suggested
questions to Main Street by Feb. 1. You may mail them to 303 S.
Kickapoo, fax them to 735-9205 or e-mail them to manager@mainstreetlincoln.com.
Questions will be sorted for duplication and the most relevant
chosen. Each candidate will have the opportunity to address each
question selected. No questions will be accepted from the floor;
therefore, if you want to address a topic, you must send the
question in advance. If you think the mayor has an impact on
downtown, now is the time to find out the candidates’ views so you
can make the best decision in the voting booth.
• AS ALWAYS, Main
Street Lincoln is working with you to make downtown a great place to
work, shop and socialize. Got a suggestion? Call us at 732-2929.
[Wendy
Bell, program manager]
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