ADELPHIA CABLE UPGRADE TO OFFER ADDITIONAL CHANNELS.

Byline: Daily News

PALMDALE - Adelphia Communications says it has begun upgrading its Antelope Valley cable system as part of its effort to accommodate more television channels.

More than 1,270 miles of cable will be surveyed and mapped over the next five months, technical operations manager John Wyly said.

``This is a huge undertaking which requires us to physically walk out our entire cable plant prior to actually resplicing and pulling cable, as well as activating 1,300-plus fiber nodes,'' Wyly said.

The new system will accommodate more than 200 channels plus other communication services, and is expected to be completed in all Adelphia's Antelope Valley service areas by March 2003. The company serves 76,000 homes and businesses from Acton to Edwards Air Force Base.

The physical work of rewiring the cable system is expected to begin in Acton this fall. Most of the work will involve stringing fiber optic cable next to existing cable or running it through existing conduits, but some older cable lines will be replaced.

As neighborhoods are completed, customers will have the option of paying to receive additional television channels as well as subscribing to the Adelphia Internet cable modem service called Powerlink. Adelphia plans to offer some digital channels in July.

Adelphia has hired subcontractors to help with the cable survey. They will require access to public and private easements, as well as to customers' back and front yards.

``We recognize that this process may be a bit intrusive to our customers and we take all of the necessary precautions to ensure the security and privacy issues of our customers,'' Wyly said.

Subcontractors will wear Adelphia badges and drive vehicles marked ``cable surveyor'' or ``mapping contractor.''

Adelphia will notify sheriff's officials of the areas where survey crews are working, the company said.