Shaw launches digital cable here

Shaw Cable unveiled its newest programming service for customers here Thursday afternoon at La Place Rendez-Vous.
The long-awaited arrival of digital cable came as media and residents gathered to learn more about the new service.
Shaw Cable representatives also will be on hand there Friday until 9 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. to answer questions and sign up interested residents.
“We’re thrilled to be launching digital cable in Fort Frances,” David Inglis, regional system manager for Shaw Cable, said Thursday. “It’s the next generation of service for our customers.”
“We’re just eight days into our centennial year, at least according to my beard growth, and this is the first big announcement of the centennial year,” Mayor Glenn Witherspoon enthused at the launch.
“Fort Frances is now part of the digital family,” added Inglis.
So far, more than 70 residents have signed up for digital cable through Shaw. And anyone signing up for the service during the three-day open house at the Rendez-Vous will have their name put in a draw for MoviePix merchandise like T-shirts.
“We’re happy with that,” Joel Hasell, a Shaw Cable sales rep, said this morning of the first day of sales. “I think today and tomorrow will be even busier.
“We will be booking into Sunday very soon this morning.”
And Hasell said if you don’t like the new service, you can change your mind.
“If you’re not happy, you can return it within 30 days,” he remarked, saying those unsatisfied would get a refund.
As previously reported in the Times, you must purchase a Digital Cable Terminal to decode the digital signal coming into your home. The one-time cost is $199.98 for the decoder on top of the $43.95 per month cost for basic digital services.
If you upgrade to the $53.95 per month package, which includes seven movie channels, you also will be eligible for a $10 a month rebate from Shaw for the first 10 months—that is, if you sign up this month.
“We feel we’re pretty well competitive with satellite [dish] costs,” said Mike Keating, regional sales manager for Shaw Cable, adding some deals for satellite systems look good when advertised, but are very similar to the initial output costs for digital cable.
“We want to be upfront about what it will cost,” he stressed.
Keating said there currently are about 2,500 analogue cable TV subscribers in Fort Frances and the company hopes to sign up about 1,000 of those to digital this month.
The first of those signing up was none other than Mayor Witherspoon and his wife, Judy.
“The basic reason is it’s cheaper,” she said, explaining the packages they paid for with their previous cable set-up cost more money for less programming.
“And the extra movie channels. You see them [listed] in the guide but can’t see them. Now we can.
“They say we’ll get better reception,” she added. “But I don’t like we won’t get our Duluth channels. It’s the only drawback.”
Residents who receive regular analogue cable from Shaw probably already have noticed their channel line-up has changed slightly since Wednesday.
Replacing the Duluth channels are ones provided by digital feed from Detroit (Channel 11) and Minneapolis (Channel 3 and 6). As well, some U.S. superstations (WSBK-UPN, KTLA, Star! TV, and WGN) now only are available on digital cable.
In exchange, analogue cable subscribers now get the Life Network (Channel 31), Bravo (Channel 32), and the Food Network (Channel 35).
Other channels that have changed include the TV listings (Channel 2), TSN (Channel 9), CHCH Hamilton (Channel 13), and MuchMusic (Channel 53).
Meanwhile, another new service on the horizon is high-speed Internet.
“Shaw is the leading high-speed Internet provider in North America,” said Inglis. “We did get final approval to launch in Dryden with Internet, so definitely we’re working on here next,” he noted.
“We’re in the preliminary engineering phase right now. The key is tying into a main fibre network in the country,” Inglis said.
Inglis said Shaw just found out yesterday morning that a fibre optic cable runs along the CN railway tracks that go through town. He noted that sometimes tying into such a line can cost a lot because it has to be brought in from a long distance.
“The closer the backbone [fibre network] is, the sooner we can provide it,” Inglis remarked. “The more services we can provide, the more revenue base we have and the wider it can be delivered.”
The next step for Inglis is to get approval from Shaw to assess the costs and equipment need to bringing high-speed Internet to Fort Frances. He was optimistic the proximity to the fibre optic line would make things move quicker.
“We would be thrilled if we were there by the end of this year,” he said.