New Cable Company Takes Over in L.C. Area
By Amy Polk

Cedarville and Hessel will receive new cable television service beginning the week of June 4 and, and those two communities, plus Pickford, are expected to receive high speed cable Internet service soon. Pickford already has the cable service. The services are being provided by Sunrise Communications of Onaway, which purchased the assets of Northwoods Cable Company, also of Onaway, last fall and has spent the past five months refurbishing the system.

Sunrise managers say the acquisition should end years of troubled service in those areas, exacerbated the past four years by Northwoods' bankruptcy proceedings.

"It's a fresh start and Sunrise has invested in an upgraded and improved new system that is aimed to provide quality cable and Internet services to our customers," said Bob Goodenow, manager of Sunrise Communications.

"In some cases, it was a total rebuild of the system," he said, "for instance we replaced an entire section of cable in front of the Hessel Ridge Golf Course."

Other physical improvements include upgrading amplifiers and converting the original one-way cable system to a two-way system that allows the back and forth transfer of information.

Sunrise will offer residential Internet service from 512 kilobytes per second to one megabyte per second and business service up to three megabytes per second.

Earlier this month, Clark Township signed a franchise agreement to allow Sunrise to take over the Northwoods service area in the township. Sunrise also took over a portion of Charter Communication's cable service area in Pickford.

In April, Mr. Goodenow told the Clark Township Board of Trustees his company will offer up to 39 television channels, plus a community channel for announcements, news, and school events. He plans to work with local schools to teach students interested in broadcasting how to record and broadcast events. Basic cable will cost about $42, he told the board. Discounted rates will be available for customers who order both cable and Internet services he told The St. Ignace News last week.