Cable-television consent agreement approved at Patten and Island Falls

PATTEN — Town officials from Patten and Island Falls on Wednesday night approved a consent agreement that would allow the transfer of the cable-television franchises for those towns from Public Cable Co. of Portland to Houlton Cable TV in Houlton.

Public Cable purchased the Patten-Island Falls system in March 1988 from Maine Cable Co. of Milo. According to Jeff Darrell of Public Cable, however, the company decided to sell the system because it was too far away from the company’s other operations in the Portland area. He said the distance made it difficult for the company to provide the quality customer service it normally provided.

Darrell said that Houlton Cable TV expressed an interested in the Patten-Island Falls system and officials at Public Cable felt that the interest expressed by HCTV provided a good opportunity to make the transfer.

He said technicians from Houlton Cable TV were already in the Patten-Island Falls area working with Public Cable technicians to make the transfer of service as smooth as possible. He said he expected a final sale agreement to be worked out by the end of the month.

According to Ron Dee, manager of HCTV, the company planned on upgrading the Patten-Island Falls system to improve the quality of service. He said he did not foresee any immediate increase in the number of channels offered to customers there nor did he foresee any immediate increase in service fees.

Houlton Cable TV currently provides cable service to Houlton and Hodgdon. The company is owned by New England Productions Shelbourne Kozloski in Pennsylvania, which also owns television station WAGM in Presque Isle.