Digging Digital

By the end of the year, Cox Communications subscribers in Fayetteville should have the option of some 200 television stations delivered by way of a digitally compressed analog fiber-optics cable. Currently, Fayetteville residents can get up to 60 channels by analog cable.

Cox will be digging up the old cable all over town to replace it with the new, high-tech stuff. The cost of all of this? About $25 million, said Neil Adams, operations manager for Cox in the Springdale office.

Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville already have the new cable service and about 200 channels to choose from. For decades, Fayetteville has had one of the most sophisticated cable television systems in the state, so the cities that were most in need were updated first, Adams said. But, by the end of 2001, Fayetteville’s system will be more extensive than those just to the north.

Adams said this is just the first phase in an effort to convert television to a digital medium. It’s not to be confused with high-definition television, he said. That has to do with your television set, not the cable service.

Adams said there would be a noticeable difference in picture quality with the new cable, which some residents of Fayetteville will have by summer.