SERVICE ELECTRIC HELPS YOU TRANSITION TO DIGITAL TV


Dear Customer:

The nation's full power over-the-air local television stations are moving from an old system known as “analog” broadcasting to a new system known as “digital” broadcasting. the U.S. Government has set February 17, 2009 as the date for this change. At the end of that day, TV stations will stop transmitting their programs in analog technology and will start transmitting them only in digital. This change is important because it will free up signal capacity available for first-responders such as local police and fire departments and improve public safety.

As a cable customer, the good news is, you do not have to do anything to continue enjoying full power commercial broadcast TV stations in their new digital format. As long as your analog TV sets are connected to cable, they'll continue to display local commercial TV stations even after the digital transition on February 17, 2009. That's because Service Electric already has the technology in place to handle over-the-air TV stations in the new digital format.

However, even though you're a cable customer, you may have some televisions in your home that aren't hooked up to cable, and instead use an antenna. These secondary sets are likely to be older and “analog”- that is, they probably don't have the digital tuners that are in the newer “digital” TV sets available today. These older sets won't be able to tune in the signals that full power TV stations are broadcasting after February 17, 2009, although they should continue to receive analog low power, Class A or translator TV stations. Those analog TV sets must be connected to your cable service or outfitted with a special digital-to-analog converter, in order to continue displaying over-the-air TV signals.

You can either call Service Electric to arrange for connection of your secondary sets to cable or to receive assistance with any questions you may have from our staff at:

SERVICE ELECTRIC BROADBAND CABLE
15 J CAMPBELL COLLINS DR
WILKES-BARRE, PA 18702
570-825-8508


Or, you can buy a special add-on “converter” that will let your old TV sets pick up and display full power over-the-air digital signals. These converters were expected to be available from retailers in early 2008 and cost between $50 and $75 each. To help customers pay for the converters, the federal government has a program through which each home can request up to two coupons worth $40 each. More information is available at www.DTV.gov and from www.dtv2009.gov or 1-888-DTV-2009 for information about subsidized coupons for digital-to-analog converter boxes.