WestStar Cable of the Cayman Islands is the new co-owner of Bermuda Cablevision after the company bought out the shares of long-time shareholder McDonald Consulting last week.

The company is taking over the management role of Cablevision and promises that new channels and better service are in the pipeline for local subscribers.

The Alabama-based McDonald group had been involved with Cablevision since 1987 when brothers Bill and Allan McDonald sunk roughly $8 million into the company allowing the struggling company to complete the island-wide cabling system.

McDonald Consulting and Bermuda Telephone Company -- through holding company KeyTech -- had each roughly controlled 40 percent of Cablevision shares and combined to form Bermuda Cablevision Holdings controlling 80 percent of the shares with the remainder held by individual shareholders.

KeyTech essentially steps into McDonald Consulting's place in that arrangement. "Our direct ownership in Bermuda Cablevision would be roughly 32 percent,'' said new general manager Jeremy Elmas. But WestStar has taken over the management contract from McDonald and will be responsible for day to day operations.

The new GM is already at the helm although the sale only closed January 10th.

The California-born 27-year-old has been with WestStar for six years -- most recently as Chief Financial Officer in the Grand Cayman office. "I'm island hopping,'' he said.

WestStar Cable has been in operation since 1981. "It started on the West coast of the US in California, Idaho and Montana,'' said Mr. Elmas. "Later, in 1992, we started building systems in the Cayman Islands -- wireless cable TV systems there and two broadcasting television stations.'' In 1999 the company sold its US holdings however and now Bermuda and the Cayman Islands are the extent of the WestStar cable empire.

Negotiations for the Cablevision purchase have been going on for the past year and therefore WestStar is well aware of the recent management and staffing problems the local provider has undergone. "We didn't really know all the people involved, but they were dropping like flies for awhile,'' said Mr.

Elmas.

In December executive manager Carl Musson stepped down from his post after just six months and two high-ranking employees -- chief engineer Eddie Palacious and assistant general manager Debbie DeSilva -- resigned in mid-October.

New Cablevision owners promise better days The resignations were widely reported to be due to management disputes with McDonald Consulting and the consultant the group hired to assist with local operations, Jackie Previto.

Mr. Elmas said that Ms Previto would be staying on at Cablevision as a consultant. "She is very qualified and does a great job, so, until we can replace her, she will be here.'' And while Mr. Elmas said he has met with Mr. Musson, no discussions have taken place with regards to a possible return.

Mr. Elmas estimates that Cablevision reaches approximately 80 percent of island households and said that they will soon be working on extending service to smaller areas they currently don't service.

And he says these customers can expect more choice and better service in the future.

"Over time we plan to add services -- the depth and breadth has yet to be determined -- but we're looking at Pay-per-View and DMX digital audio... And we plan to do some upgrading to the plant to improve picture quality and channel offerings as well as customer service which we think has been neglected,'' he said.

To do so the company plans to add both long-term and short-term staff and many subscribers will be happy to hear that the hours at both payment centres have already been extended to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from the old noon till 5 p.m.

Among the channels Bermuda residents might expect in the future are a National Geographic channel which the company will make a decision on by the end of the month and another movie channel.

They're also looking at adding a music channel, something the island has not had since the loss of VH1.

But, Mr. Elmas said Cablevision will continue to face frustrations due to purchasing restrictions in terms of what channels they can offer and Spanish-language feeds on channels like Nickledeon and the Discovery Channel.

"We'll try to work with these restrictions and provide as many options as possible.'' At the moment there are no plans to raise cable rates -- which Mr. Elmas points out have not been raised since 1988 -- but if they add services there may be rate increases, he said.