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20K OneLink customers still in the dark

OneLink Communications works to restore service in the Condado area Friday.

As of Friday morning, some 20,000 OneLink Communications customers still had no service in the wake of storm Irene, company officials said.

“Like the rest of the island, the company was affected by the lack of electric power following the passage of storm Irene,” said Néstor Cardona, executive director of OneLink’s technical services.

“Close to 15 percent of our subscribers, or 20,000 homes, remain without cable service because electricity has not been restored in the nodes that feed those areas,” he said. “However, at present, more than 130,000 clients have OneLink services.”

This is the first time since the storm that OneLink has offered an update of its network status. This week, the company hired Avant Communications to handle its public relations and communications efforts.

OneLink is the San Juan metropolitan area’s cable provider, San Juan, Bayamón, Cataño, Trujillo Alto, Carolina, Toa Alta and Toa Baja.

Network overhaul on track
Earlier this year, News is my Business broke the story on how the company got the go-ahead from the Federal Communications Commission to scramble its basic channel lineup, a change that requires a $17 million capital investment to overhaul the network.

The company announced Friday that it has entered the final stage of the conversion, which blankets San Juan, Cataño, Guaynabo and Carolina. OneLink has already completed the change in Toa Baja, Toa Alta and part of Bayamón.

“The change has been a success. Subscriptions have increased by 10 percent due to the great reception given to the new digital signal,” Cardona noted.

The 100 percent digital infrastructure will pave the way for the arrival of as many new High-Definition channels, an increase in broadband Internet speeds to more than 50 Mbps and crisper image. The change will also mean that OneLink customers who do not currently use a set-top converter box to receive their basic service signal will have to pick one up.

Author Details
Author Details
Business reporter with 30 years of experience writing for weekly and daily newspapers, as well as trade publications in Puerto Rico. My list of former employers includes Caribbean Business, The San Juan Star, and the Puerto Rico Daily Sun, among others. My areas of expertise include telecommunications, technology, retail, agriculture, tourism, banking and most other segments of Puerto Rico’s economy.
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4 Comments

  1. RamonAntonio August 26, 2011

    As a loooong time suscriber to Onelink I can attest that they have more problems than electric failure. Their Telephone and Internet signal quality in some areas is dismal while they maintain cable service. In fact, I lost the signal BEFORE I lost electric power in my home.
    For a long time they have kept invoicing phone and Internet service even when that services are unreliable and for times unavailable from them. Business as usual for them. The real culprit is that they have neglected investment in maintenance of their cable network for long time. And their cost is overtly high against the same services from suppliers in other areas.
    Let’s see how Onelink behaves, if they survive, the entering of Claro blanketing their areas with an alternative to their monopoly and their… “what the he%^&*lll!… attention to reliability and quality of their signal in their market area..
    My take is that they will suffer a massive rejection when competition becomes available unless they cut their cost dramatically to maintain their subscriptions. Otherwie I won’t be surprised if they sell and abandon the field before that.. And that’s a fact!

    Reply
  2. Edward August 29, 2011

    Monday 29 2011, one full week without Onelink service. A crew came by last Thursday and discovered a broken wire. Did not have the equipment to access the wire and left. So far 4 days and no returned visits. Neighbors with Tv, Internet and phone provided by the Telephone Company did not have their service interrupted. Onelink fails on average about once a month for more than 3 hours at a time. I think that for serious weather situations (storms) the Telephone Company is more reliable.

    Reply
  3. miriam olivo October 5, 2011

    Q pasa no cable y no telefono 2507780 no lo cogen. Mi esposo quiere cambiar a dish. Llamenlo al 7872424493 hoy yaaa

    Reply

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