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Technical problem limits cable service for thousands
By JIM ROSS © St. Petersburg Times, published October 10, 2000 BEVERLY HILLS -- The Practice is Carol Vogt's favorite TV program. But Mrs. Vogt couldn't watch the season premiere that aired Sunday night. Why? Because her cable TV provider, Adelphia Cable Communications, experienced technical problems Saturday morning, leaving Mrs. Vogt and 4,500 other customers in Beverly Hills and Hernando with only limited service throughout the weekend and into Monday. "I'm seriously thinking at this point of going to Time Warner," Mrs. Vogt said, referencing Adelphia's competitor in the cable business. Adelphia has 9,700 Citrus customers in east and central Citrus. According to Tammy Roush, the company's customer service manager, a power surge in Beverly Hills destroyed the microwave receiver that Adelphia keeps mounted on a water tower. That receiver takes in signals from Adelphia's main tower, which is near the Inverness Golf and Country Club, Roush said. At first, about 8:15 a.m. or so Saturday, customers in Beverly Hills and Hernando lost all service. Later, a few channels here and there came back to life. By 5 p.m. Monday, about 22 channels were available and -- whew! -- Roush could report that Monday Night Football, featuring the Bucs and the Vikings, would be available on channel 11. But things won't be back to normal until later today, when Adelphia expects to receive and install a new microwave receiver, which FedEx is shipping from California. Roush said the equipment is not easily replaced or fixed. It's not the kind of thing cable companies keep around the office. She and her colleagues have tried to soothe angry telephone callers. "We have nine lines coming in, and all nine lines are staying busy," she said. Roush has worked 14 years in this industry, all in Citrus County. She said she never has experienced this kind of a prolonged service problem. That wasn't much comfort to customers such as Mrs. Vogt. She called Adelphia throughout the weekend, receiving busy signal after busy signal. Finally, the call went through about lunch time Monday. "They told me they needed a part. They were waiting for a part, and the part would be in Tuesday," she said. "I have no idea what kind of a part they need. "It's just a pain in the neck," Mrs. Vogt said. Stanley Plonowski, also of Beverly Hills, said he didn't call for service help until Monday. "We figured it was broke -- they would fix it," he said.
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