Index Cable To Shut Down Television and Internet Service On Guemes Island

In a recent letter to subscribers,  Index Cable announced that "we will be closing down the system, including the internet access, at the end of the year." Index operates the only cable system on Guemes Island with more than 200 subscribers.

Irene Varhaug, Index Cable owner,  explained that the federal government requires all television be digital by February 2009 and that "there's no possible way we can afford to buy the digital equipment needed to convert... Our programming costs, the price of gas, insurance, utilities have all mushroomed over the last two years, and 200 subscribers just isn't enough to meet our expenses."

She has talked to Wave Cable and Comcast but "no one seems too interested."