LAKE COUNTY ? Mediacom is telling between 12,000 and 15,000 Lake County customers experiencing interruptions in phone, cable and Internet services to please excuse the company”s “digital dust” and trust that the company will come through with promises of improved services by the end of the year.
“In a lot of cases, customers are calling on a cell phone and saying, ?hey, my home phone is out, can you get out here?”” Mediacom Senior Manager of Operations Shawn Swatosh said.
Swatosh did not say how many customers called with problems, but said the company”s technicians have been working “very long days” to ensure continuous service. He said the company issues credits for lost service.
The digital media company is revamping its system by replacing fiber optic nodes and installing more of them in order to accommodate more bandwidth, a state-of-the-art design that Swatosh said means better service. He said Mediacom technicians work between 1 a.m. and 5 p.m. to avoid disturbing customers, but the company gets calls when newly installed equipment fails.
“The primary reason we are doing this upgrade is that with the digital transition coming Feb. 17, cable operators are going to be required to dual eliminate, which means we need to carry analog and digital channels ? we need to simulcast both. To have additional bandwidth to do that, we need to upgrade our system,” Swatosh said.
Lakeport resident Sharon Kelly said her cable television went out every other night about three weeks ago, until Mediacom apparently fixed the problem last week.
“At first, I thought the cable goes off every once in a while when someone hits a pole,” Kelly said.
Swatosh said when Mediacom gets a call from a customer complaining that service is disrupted, a technician is sent to the site to make repairs. In addition, Swatosh said the company can provide credits for lost services on customers” bills.
To report problems or to request a credit, call Mediacom at 877-560-1847.
Kelly isn”t the only one who has reported problems. The Lake County Board of Supervisors contacted Swatosh after discussing problems with the broadcast of the board”s weekly, televised meetings on Channel 8 during the Nov. 25 meeting. The county contracts with Mediacom for the broadcast. Constant static broke up the picture on the screen that showed the supervisors” meeting.
During the discussion, Supervisor Anthony Farrington said the disruptions affect him because he uses the Internet for some of the law classes he is taking, and to communicate with constituents and county staff.
“This past week it”s been pretty solid, but it was hit and miss the last couple of weeks before that. It”s been in and out on a regular basis, and that”s unacceptable,” Farrington said.
According to Swatosh, the upgrades will allow Mediacom to add more high-definition channels and video on demand, and will increase high-speed internet services.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636 ext. 37.
