By Robert Barron Staff Writer

A city survey of Suddenlink Communications customers shows a level of dissatisfaction with cable television service in Enid.

Results of the survey were discussed Tuesday during a public hearing held by Enid City Commission concerning Suddenlink’s request to extend the company’s franchise agreement with the city of Enid. No vote was taken at the meeting, and the decision on the extension will come at a later commission meeting.

The survey, taken both online and by mail, showed 53 percent of respondents rated Suddenlink quality of service either poor or below expectations. Fifty-three percent of basic tier subscribers, 64 percent of premium channel subscribers and 66 percent of digital or high definition subscribers also said the price was too high.

Fifty-four percent rated overall picture quality average or below expectation.

The survey included fewer than 1,000 Enid cable subscribers.

Enid attorney Bryce Ken-nedy, representing the city, said the agreement with Suddenlink states the city can review cable service every five years, al-though that has not been done. Suddenlink’s agreement with the city will expire April 21, 2010.

The city receives 5 percent of Suddenlink’s gross revenue of cable fees for the right to operate here. The city’s share varies from $37,000 to $42,000 per month, some of which is used to help fund PEGASYS, Enid’s public-access television station.

Byron Mahaffey, Suddenlink assistant manager, told commissioners the company offers ad-vanced services, in-cluding high-speed Internet, digital cable, high definition, digital video recorder and telephone service, which started last year.

Enid is one of the top 10 Suddenlink systems nationwide, he said. The company also has competition in Enid. Mahaffey said satellite television penetration in Oklahoma is about 25 percent, and major telephone companies are preparing to offer video services, he said. Competition for high-speed Internet service continues to increase among cable, phone, wireless and satellite providers.

He also said Suddenlink supports education with access to high-quality educational content and technology. More than 62 Oklahoma schools have access to cable programming free of charge, he said. Suddenlink employees participate and contribute to charitable organizations, Mahaffey said, and local programming channels offer free community programming and announcements to local governments and nonprofit groups.

Some people attending Tuesday’s meeting said they were dissatisfied with content and wanted more channels.

Leroy Schalk said service was poor and prices were going higher. He said many senior citizens could not afford the additional cost.

Bob Emery said he had problems with his channels and had no success getting them re-solved. One problem he mentioned was the same ESPN channel on two different channels on HDTV. Emery said he also was having tiling problems, in which the screen divided into small segments.

Mike Bigheart said he had numerous televisions and every option Suddenlink offers. He did not like losing a channel provided by Cox Communications, the previous cable television company in Enid, that showed high school football games, including Enid High School games. Sud-denlink bought many smaller cable markets Cox owned, including Enid.

Bigheart’s main complaint, though, was content.

“I think we could have substantially more channels, I feel the content is substandard,” he said.

Glenn Houser said he has had problems without much success resolving them. He also complained about content and asked who decides what programming will be allowed. Houser suggested CNN International and the English language version of Arabic television station Al Jazeera be added for additional content.

Several senior citizens spoke, and many said they were concerned about the cost. One woman asked if a special senior citizen rate could be established so they could continue to live within their budgets.

Enid Fire Chief Phil Clover asked for a scrambled channel to be used for fire department training. He called it a safety issue.

Ward 5 Commissioner Daron Rudy suggested while respondents to a survey were more likely to be those with a complaint, there is a consistency in the complaints, and it may be valuable to learn something from them.

“You ought to take this opportunity and do surveys of your own frequently,” he said. “I don’t know about the price, but I want to know before I vote on this.”By Robert Barron

Staff Writer

A city survey of Suddenlink Communications customers shows a level of dissatisfaction with cable television service in Enid.

Results of the survey were discussed Tuesday during a public hearing held by Enid City Commission concerning Suddenlink’s request to extend the company’s franchise agreement with the city of Enid. No vote was taken at the meeting, and the decision on the extension will come at a later commission meeting.

The survey, taken both online and by mail, showed 53 percent of respondents rated Suddenlink quality of service either poor or below expectations. Fifty-three percent of basic tier subscribers, 64 percent of premium channel subscribers and 66 percent of digital or high definition subscribers also said the price was too high.

Fifty-four percent rated overall picture quality average or below expectation.

The survey included fewer than 1,000 Enid cable subscribers.

Enid attorney Bryce Ken-nedy, representing the city, said the agreement with Suddenlink states the city can review cable service every five years, al-though that has not been done. Suddenlink’s agreement with the city will expire April 21, 2010.

The city receives 5 percent of Suddenlink’s gross revenue of cable fees for the right to operate here. The city’s share varies from $37,000 to $42,000 per month, some of which is used to help fund PEGASYS, Enid’s public-access television station.

Byron Mahaffey, Suddenlink assistant manager, told commissioners the company offers ad-vanced services, in-cluding high-speed Internet, digital cable, high definition, digital video recorder and telephone service, which started last year.

Enid is one of the top 10 Suddenlink systems nationwide, he said. The company also has competition in Enid. Mahaffey said satellite television penetration in Oklahoma is about 25 percent, and major telephone companies are preparing to offer video services, he said. Competition for high-speed Internet service continues to increase among cable, phone, wireless and satellite providers.

He also said Suddenlink supports education with access to high-quality educational content and technology. More than 62 Oklahoma schools have access to cable programming free of charge, he said. Suddenlink employees participate and contribute to charitable organizations, Mahaffey said, and local programming channels offer free community programming and announcements to local governments and nonprofit groups.

Some people attending Tuesday’s meeting said they were dissatisfied with content and wanted more channels.

Leroy Schalk said service was poor and prices were going higher. He said many senior citizens could not afford the additional cost.

Bob Emery said he had problems with his channels and had no success getting them re-solved. One problem he mentioned was the same ESPN channel on two different channels on HDTV. Emery said he also was having tiling problems, in which the screen divided into small segments.

Mike Bigheart said he had numerous televisions and every option Suddenlink offers. He did not like losing a channel provided by Cox Communications, the previous cable television company in Enid, that showed high school football games, including Enid High School games. Sud-denlink bought many smaller cable markets Cox owned, including Enid.

Bigheart’s main complaint, though, was content.

“I think we could have substantially more channels, I feel the content is substandard,” he said.

Glenn Houser said he has had problems without much success resolving them. He also complained about content and asked who decides what programming will be allowed. Houser suggested CNN International and the English language version of Arabic television station Al Jazeera be added for additional content.

Several senior citizens spoke, and many said they were concerned about the cost. One woman asked if a special senior citizen rate could be established so they could continue to live within their budgets.

Enid Fire Chief Phil Clover asked for a scrambled channel to be used for fire department training. He called it a safety issue.

Ward 5 Commissioner Daron Rudy suggested while respondents to a survey were more likely to be those with a complaint, there is a consistency in the complaints, and it may be valuable to learn something from them.

“You ought to take this opportunity and do surveys of your own frequently,” he said. “I don’t know about the price, but I want to know before I vote on this.”