Digital TV Terms & Policies

Digital TV Subscriber Notification

Kansas and Missouri Customers Only

Installation and Service

Consolidated Communications (CCI) may require a payment in advance as a condition of installation, based upon a customer's credit rating with an independent agency. The advance payment will be applied toward services as reflected on the customer's first bill.

CCI performs standard installations, located up to 125 feet from the existing distribution system, within a maximum of seven (7) business days of an order being placed. For business day purposes, Sundays and holidays are excluded.

Installation and service-call appointments are scheduled within a four hour time block during business hours, Monday through Saturday. An adult needs to be present during all in-home visits to provide access, verify that the service is working properly and to sign the installation service agreements.

CCI will not cancel an appointment with you after 7 p.m. on the day before the scheduled appointment without your permission. If our representative will be late for an appointment, every effort will be made to contact you. The appointment will be rescheduled at your earliest convenience.

CCI will strictly abide by the Letter of Agency processes to change a customer's preferred telecommunications carrier, ensuring we have the proper consent and customer knowledge. To do this, CCI will obtain the subscriber's written authorization with the date and the telephone line(s) to be changed.

Excluding conditions beyond our control, CCI will work on loss of service reports within 24 hours of notice. Other types of service problems will also be made a 24-hour priority, but may be forced to wait until the next business day depending upon available resources. The CCI systems will be monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week by our operations staff.

How to Use the Service

Television – CCI provides you with one digital cable set-top box along with one remote control device free of charge as long as you subscribe to the Basic Cable Service. To view programming coming from the digital cable set-top box, your television or VCR must be tuned to channel 3.

CCI digital cable set-top box will allow you access to the Local Source channel, Digital Music channels & Pay-Per-View as well as authorizing subscription-based programming of the premium channels, and the 45+ channel tier of digital cable channels. The digital cable set-top box is also a secure way to parentally control viewership of channels in your home. If you would like access to any of these services on televisions other than your primary connection, you may rent additional digital cable set-top boxes. Otherwise, only the Basic Cable Service (75+ channels) will be available on your additional outlets. The digital cable set-top box can be temporarily moved from outlet to outlet. Please review proper wiring diagrams prior to moving the digital cable set-top box. It is important that no additional equipment be placed between the digital cable set-top box and the cable wire coming from the wall plate in order to maintain our superior picture quality.

Many channels are available to you in stereo if your television or VCR is equipped with an MTS stereo decoder. Some stereo programs are additionally available in Spanish if you have a digital cable set-top box or if your TV or VCR is equipped with a Second Audio Program (SAP) decoder.

Phone - A complete telephone guide to additional calling features will be provided at the time of installation. A user guide to CCI electronic voice mail will also be provided.

Internet - High-speed Internet service installations include a private consultation with a CCI representative in order to demonstrate the service and answer questions. CCI staffs a help desk 24 hours a day, seven days a week to answer customer questions concerning the Internet service. To reach this help desk, customers may call 816.714.2981.

Equipment Compatibility

Cable television services are delivered via cable on a composite signal called "RF broadband." Older TV receivers cannot tune to all of the channels delivered on this broadband. Although many "cable-ready" televisions and VCRs can receive these channels, some may experience interference, as they are not adequately shielded.

In cases where a television or VCR on an additional outlet cannot clearly tune to all of the 75+ channels provided on the Basic Cable Service, an extended tuner, called a converter, can be used to receive the channels. These may be purchased at retail stores.

To help ease confusion about whether a television or VCR is "cable ready," the Federal Communications Commission has for several years prohibited the importing or selling of televisions and VCRs to be marketed as "cable-ready" or "cable-compatible" unless they meet certain performance standards.

For delivery of digital services beyond Basic Cable Service, CCI employs scrambling technologies to ensure secure signals to authorized homes. Customers will need to use the digital cable set-top box to gain access to these services, even if the television is "cableready." We provide one box and one remote control device to every Basic Cable customer free of charge. Additional digital cable set-top boxes may be rented on a monthly basis.

By using only one digital cable set-top box, you will not be able to simultaneously watch one scrambled channel while recording another scrambled channel, or access features on two scrambled channels such as picture-in-picture. The digital cable set-top box has only one tuner, and two tuners would be necessary for these operations. Therefore, two digital cable set-top boxes are needed for simultaneous use of two scrambled channels. As long as at least one of the two channels is not scrambled, you can simultaneously watch or record by using a special bypass switch, commonly known as an A/B switch. CCI makes bypass switches available for purchase, or you can obtain one from a retail store.

Digital cable set-top boxes for use on our system can only legally be obtained from CCI. Advertisements for cable converters selling descramblers to obtain services from cable operators for free are deceptive, as the sale and use of these devices are illegal under Federal and State laws.

CCI encourages customers to allow our representative to connect VCRs to their cable service. We perform this service on a complimentary basis during normal installation of service, and will do so for a minimal charge if requested to perform this connection exclusively. We use properly shielded materials, unlike the jumper provided by most VCR manufacturers, and we therefore urge customers to consider employing our services to retain the high quality of CCI pictures.

CCI has selected remote-controlled digital cable set-top boxes that work with a number of remote controls sold with popular televisions and VCRs. Universal remote controls that are compatible with our converters can also be purchased at local retail stores. Some of the universal remote manufacturers compatible with our equipment are Magnavox, RCA, Sony Electronics, Zenith Allegro, Phillips Electronics, Radio Shack, and Universal Electronics.

CCI provides enough signal to your home for at least three Cable/Internet connections. If you would like more outlets connected, you may need to obtain a house amplifier. A house amplifier will provide extra signal to your home, enabling you to have more than three outlets. The amplifier can be purchased at a retail location of your choice.

We are committed to helping you maximize your voice, video and data experience. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you are experiencing equipment compatibility problems, as we'd like to work with you to provide the best solution possible.

We publish PC specifications that are compatible with our high-speed Internet service. Visit www.mycci.net for the necessary information or you can call our local office for clarification at 913.825.3000.

Billing and Complaint Procedures

We bill for services one month in advance, and ask for receipt of payment approximately 21 days after the bill is mailed. All bills are fully itemized, and rendered on a cyclical basis on or about the same day of each month. Customers with account balances of zero are not sent bills. When service does not begin on the first day of the month, or end on the last day of the month, the charge for the fraction of the month in which service was furnished will be calculated on a pro rata basis. For billing that is based upon customer usage, usage charges will be billed monthly for the preceding billing period.

Customers will have at least a 21-day period to remit payment to CCI once the bill is mailed. Customers are expected to pay amounts due by the date indicated on the bill. Charges not paid on or before the due date will be subject to a late payment penalty of 3%.

If you have questions regarding your bill, questions about your service, or wish to make changes to your service, please call our Call Center at 913.825.3000, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday.  We are closed on Sunday. For service outages, we are available after regular hours, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We will ensure the prompt resolution of inquiries.

Your basic phone service can't be shut off for failure to pay unregulated telephone charges you are disputing as long as you notify us about the problem immediately and pay for the part of the total bill not in dispute. Optional telephone features and other services such as cable entertainment and high-speed Internet can be suspended until the charges are settled. Customers with past-due balances who fail to make an effort to pay may be disconnected. Customers will be given at least 7 days notice prior to disconnection. Once disconnected, Customers may then be subject to paying the full amount of late charges and a reconnection fee. For these reasons, we urge you to call us as soon as possible if the bill payment will be delayed.

Billing disputes resolved in your favor will be credited back to your account. If we do not resolve cable-related problems to your satisfaction, you may direct inquiries to your local franchising authority displayed on your monthly bill.

Customers can register complaints concerning phone services with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Consumers can also directly contact their state's Public Service Commission to register an informal complaint, as the Public Service Commission regulates telephone service. Contact information for the Missouri and Kansas Commissions are as follows:

Missouri Public Service Commission
P.O. Box 360
Jefferson City, MO 65102-0360
Telephone: (800) 392-4211

Kansas Corporation Commission
1500 SW Arrowhead Road
Topeka, KS 66604-4027
Telephone: (785) 271-3100

Following is a brief explanation of some taxes and surcharges that may appear on customer bills:

End User Common Line Charge: The FCC allows a local phone company to charge to recover a portion of the costs of completing long distance calls on its local network. These charges apply to each access line to which a unique telephone number is assigned. The FCC caps the charge that phone providers can charge.

Universal Service Fees: These fees are charged by most local and long distance providers as part of a federal program to subsidize local telephone service for low-income consumers or those who live in areas where the cost of providing telecommunications service are exceptionally high. These fees also help cover discounted communications services for schools, libraries and rural health-care facilities.

Kansas Universal Service Fund: These fees are collected to help cover Lifeline, Kansas Relay Services, Telecommunications Access Program and to support network enhancements and upgrade to the phone service in rural areas.

Local Number Portability: This fee allows the phone company to recover the cost of making changes to the equipment and software in order to provide consumers with the option of keeping their phone number even though they change carriers.

Excise and Sales Tax: The federal government charges an excise tax on telephone service, and you are also charged state, city and local county sales taxes on phone service. Some state and local municipalities also charge sales tax on cable services.

911 Surcharge: A fee is collected on behalf of local governments to cover the cost of providing 911 emergency services.

Telecommunications Relay Service Fee: Relay fee is collected from all customers to help cover the cost of providing a translator service for hearing-impaired callers making calls between a special type of text telephone and traditional voice telephones.

City Franchise Fees: These fees are collected to offset the cost of regulating the public rights-of-way used for telecommunication and cable services.