Tyrone Richardson - THE MORNING CALL
September 11, 2009

Like a lot of RCN customers, Randy Laughlin got a shock with his bill last week -- a letter saying he has to have converter boxes on his televisions by Sept. 22 or he won't get cable reception.

''I'm kind of content with the channels I have and I do not see a need for a converter box,'' Laughlin said.

No matter. If you're an RCN customer in the Lehigh Valley, your bill probably is going up because the company is requiring digital converter boxes for all televisions that receive cable. The good news? The first box is free. The bad news? Additional boxes cost $2.95 each per month. And you need a box for every TV that gets cable.

The cable provider is phasing out analog service -- which comes through a coaxial cable into a television -- to create capacity to add more channels, particularly those in high definition.

Spotted here