ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / March 19, 2000

LAPLACE – Let the wiring begin.

Reserve Telecommunications became St. John Parish’s second cabletelevision franchise Tuesday night.

RTC president Jay Reso and the St. John Parish Council signed a 25-yearcontract that lets RTC become the parish’s first company to offer residents cable television, local and long-distance telephone service and high-speed access to the internet.

“This is something that has been needed for awhile,” said Council Chairman Duaine Duffy. “With RTC we will have real competition which could improvecable services.”Reso told the council RTC was in negotiation with Entergy for utility pole allocation and that construction of a hybrid fiber-coaxial cable network will begin in about 40 days.

RTC Vice President Mickey Triche said completion of the cable system is still a ways off.

“We can’t commit to a time-frame right now,” said Triche, “because we are at the mercy of distributors and contractors. There are a lot of other cablecompanies in the country that want to set up shop.”But Triche did confirm that actual construction will start in 40 days.

Reso said, “We want St. John to be the model of technological advancementin non-urban areas for the entire state.”The cable system will include a 77-channel lineup with offerings of premium channels such as HBO and Showtime. Residents will be offered local telephoneservice at discounted prices and high-speed internet access with speeds up to 100 times faster than standard modems on the same system.

Triche said, “We will not only offer a better service at a lower price, but we will guarantee customer satisfaction.”The parish’s other cable television provider, Time-Warner, has come under a lot of criticism lately for its poor service record, and the council hopes RTC’s entrance into the cable business will spur some changes with Time-Warner.

“We have signed a state-of-the-art franchise with RTC,” said Duffy, “and when Time-Warner’s contract is up we will renew their contract using the RTC agreement as a model.”Time-Warner has been operating a cable franchise in the parish since 1978.

The parish is hoping that not only will cable service improve because of competition but that cable prices will come down because of the two cable rivals.

Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Jay Blossman agrees.

“I think the best way to achieve this is by healthy competition, and this expansion by RTC shows that competition can flourish in every part of Louisiana if we regulators can provide the right environment.”Reso said that RTC cable and phone services will also be available to Edgard residents.

Return To News Stories