Cable provider drops Poy Sippi

POY SIPPI - Cable subscribers in the rural community of Poy Sippi will soon find themselves without service.

Catrina Burgess can't believe it.

"No more cable in Poy Sippi? Who would have thought that?" said Burgess.

Burgess is a cable customer. And not a very happy one.

"Just last week, we received a letter from this Windjammer Cable saying that our cable was going to be done with in our town," explained Burgess.

But why? Windjammer just acquired the system in December. And it's the only cable system around.

"We're a small community so we're not having 5 different cable companies coming at us," said Burgess.

The letter Burgess received said Windjammer anticipates suspending service by February 17, the day of the transition from analog to digital television.

A Windjammer Cable spokesperson said the company services just 90 customers in the towns of Poy Sippi and Leon and is losing customers every month. Windjammer decided it wasn't economically viable to upgrade for the digital transition because of the age and condition of the system. Windjammer is recommending customers switch to Direct TV or Dish Network.

Town Clerk Sue Albright says she understands the situation from a business standpoint, but she feels residents have been left high and dry.

"The town of Poy Sippi and probably town of Leon - the 90 some customers are thinking they were going to be fine when February 17th came around because they had cable and now here they sit having to figure out something else," said Albright.

But residents may have more time than they think.

Windjammer Cable told FOX 11 while it does intend to suspend service in Poy Sippi; it won't leave folks without television after February 17.

It says it will pull the plug when the loss of cable won't create a hardship for too many people.

Meanwhile, Catrina Burgess is mulling over what to do next.

"Some kind of satellite, Dish Network, I don't know," said Burgess.

No indication yet whether another cable television company would take over the system.