[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 86 (Thursday, June 30, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 30, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
             WIRELESS CABLE SERVICE EXPANDS IN SOUTH DAKOTA

  Mr. PRESSLER. Mr. President, recently I celebrated with some of my 
constituents the initiation of new wireless cable service in the Sioux 
Falls area. On May 31, 1994, I attended the formal dedication of Sioux 
Valley Rural Television's microwave broadcast facilities outside 
Rowena, SD. I was pleased to join the celebration.
  Sioux Valley Electric's vision of providing wireless cable service to 
its rural customers began years ago. General manager, Jim Kiley, told 
me in 1987 about Sioux Valley Electric's desire to provide wireless 
cable service. Unfortunately, the Federal Communications Commission 
[FCC] had a freeze on new applications for wireless cable. The agency 
had received so many applications, there was a tremendous backlog. 
However, most of the applications were for more lucrative urban 
markets.
  Jim and I met with then FCC chairman Dennis Patrick and explained 
that lifting the freeze could provide television choices for 
underserved rural areas. Sioux Valley Rural Television applied for a 
license at Colman and asked for a waiver or lifting of the freeze. The 
FCC accepted Sioux Valley's application and lifted the freeze for 
applications that were 50 miles or more from an existing license. This 
really opened things up for rural areas.
  Sioux Valley was granted a license for Colman and has been providing 
television service since July 1989. I had the pleasure of attending the 
dedication ceremony for Sioux Valley's broadcast tower in Colman.
  In 1992, Jim told me about Sioux Valley's pending applications at the 
FCC to provide service in Sioux Falls and northern Minnehaha County, 
and to add additional channels in Colman. It has taken a long time, but 
the FCC finally granted these applications. Sioux Valley has been 
providing 11 channels of television from its tower outside Rowena since 
May 15, 1994.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that an article about the 
dedication from the Humboldt Journal be placed in the Record at the 
conclusion of my remarks.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

               [From the Humboldt Journal, June 9, 1994]

Sioux Valley Rural TV Now Serving Minnehaha & Northern Lincoln Counties

       With help from Senator Larry Pressler (R-SD), Sioux Valley 
     Rural Television (SVRTV) formally dedicated its new Rowena 
     microwave broadcast facilities last week.
       SVRTV is a subsidiary of Sioux Valley Electric. Since 1989, 
     the TV cooperative has been serving subscribers in Lake, 
     Brookings and Moody counties. Recently, with help from 
     Senator Pressler and his Washington staff, SVRTV also won 
     Federal Communications Commission (FCC) licensing to serve 
     Minnehaha and northern Lincoln county areas surrounding Sioux 
     Falls.
       ``Our new Rowena system is broadcasting 11 of cable TV's 
     most popular channels,'' said Jim Kiley, general manager of 
     both Sioux Valley Electric and Sioux Valley Rural TV. ``Our 
     basic-plus package of programming even includes the Disney 
     Channel,'' Kiley added.
       Other channels included in SVRTV's basic-plus package are 
     Discovery, ESPN (sports), the Cable News Network (CNN), the 
     Nashville Network, TNT (Turner Network Television), 
     superstations WGN and WTBS, Nickelodeon, the USA Network and 
     TNN. The Home Box Office (HBO) Movie Channel is also 
     available for an additional $9.95/month.


                             nothing to buy

       SVRTV subscribers lease their home-end equipment (a TV top 
     receiver/descrambler and small outdoor microwave antenna). 
     The monthly fee for the ten channels shown above is $18.95, 
     plus a $6.50/month equipment lease/maintenance charge. 
     Equipment installation is provided by SVRTV technicians and 
     typically costs $25.
       General Manager Kiley, in remarks at the dedication 
     ceremony, said providing cable TV programming in rural areas 
     is consistent with Sioux Valley Electric's basic approach to 
     serving its consumers:
       ``We view our mission as going beyond merely meeting 
     consumers' basic need for reliable central station electric 
     service. We also feel our organization should be looked on as 
     a resource that can be used by rural people to improve their 
     overall quality of life.''
       Kiley said the cooperative began providing wireless cable 
     TV service because ``Our rural consumers wanted greater 
     access to the type of entertainment and informational 
     programming that cable systems were providing to their urban-
     area customers.''


                        pressler, staff praised

       Both Kiley and SVRTV board chairman John Tevedahl praised 
     the efforts of Senator Pressler and his staff in working with 
     the FCC to secure the licensing required to provide expanded 
     TV programming to rural-area subscribers throughout Sioux 
     Valley Electric's four county service territory: ``We simply 
     couldn't have asked for a more dedicated ally,'' said 
     Tevedahl. SVRTV's operations director, Joel Brick, and his 
     staff also won praise:
       ``Joel has literally worked night and day for the past five 
     years to accomplish what we're here to celebrate today,'' 
     Tevedahl said adding ``On behalf of all the people who will 
     enjoy the results of your work, I and the rest of the Sioux 
     Valley Rural TV board of directors thanks you. Tevedahl also 
     cited Kiley for his leadership throughout the five years 
     SVRTV has been in operation: ``It was your vision that was 
     responsible for adding TV programming to the long list of 
     other services which our cooperative provides. It hasn't been 
     easy to see all of this through, and I salute you for your 
     encouragement, enthusiasm and leadership.''


                           free signal checks

       Brick said SVRTV's new Rowena facility is performing 
     ``flawlessly,'' adding that a strong signal should be 
     available to most of the estimated 5,000 homes with the 
     system's coverage area. Nevertheless, before installing a 
     potential subscriber's home-end equipment, Brick said SVRTV 
     technicians perform a free, no-obligation signal quality test 
     at the subscriber's location to be certain that a good signal 
     is available. ``That way,'' he added, ``there's no 
     uncertainty involved.''
       Information about Sioux Valley Rural TV is available by 
     calling 1-800-616-7888.

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