Alternative to High Cable TV Construction Costs Offered

The Business Journal Television Broadcasting
VideoAge International
October, 1983

High construction costs are such as severe obstacle to urban builds that both general and trade press openly question cable’s future in the big cities. However, alternatives to rising costs are being developed.

When McCourt Cable Systems, a cable construction company, started wiring Boston for Cablevision Systems last October (termed one of the toughest in the industry due to its nearly 1,3000 km of underground and aerial construction), it was found that traditional construction methods would price cable out of the market. By combining a variety of technologies with new materials and management controls, a technique was developed that already has reduced building time by more than 50 percent and decreased costs by 25 percent. The process involves cutting a narrow trench in streets with a self-propelled rock saw, emplacing continuous self-contained cable and backfilling with specially developed concrete. Despite the success of this innovative technique, the ultimate solution for cost effective urban construction is believed to lie in Total Systems Management (TSM), where the MSO designates one agent to be responsible for the entire project.

The key to TSM’s approach is advanced planning. Unlike other general construction projects, cable TV systems are rarely built with all of the necessary plans in the hands of the builder before construction begins. Presently, the MSO selects subcontractors, plans and managers for every construction step. The MSO designers, however, often are removed from the actual construction and have little sense of the work-flow. Most systems operators are in experienced in managing that kind of construction.

TSM tends to eliminate the confusion of too many voices, since it assumes complete responsibility for being on time within budget.

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