MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Digital Cable Television and high-speed internet provided by Americable are scheduled to be available on base in June.
“In February or March of last year, a need was identified to bring cable television services to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni,” said Alex Adame, the contract administrator. “This contract brings stateside-like television cable services to the base, as well as high speed Internet.”
Different options and pricing packages will be available for customers to choose from.
The free military tier includes the American Forces Network channels, Commander’s Channel, weather channel and local Japanese channels and will stay available for those who do not want to purchase from Americable.
The Digital Basic television plan provides station residents with 49 digital video channels for $52.95 a month, while the Expanded Digital plan provides 84 digital video channels for $73.95 a month. Both plans also include 40 digital music channels.
Other premium channels and pay-per-view can be purchased.
“It’s pricey for a reason,” said James Smith, the Americable regional manager for Japan. “We’re bringing 55 channels of video from the U.S. over here. The circuits to get that video here are not great, so we do have higher rates than what you have in the states. Our company strives very hard to keep the prices as low as possible.”
News and sports channels will continue to air live, but all other channels will be reprogrammed to air at stateside-like times.
“So a movie that aired at 8 o’clock Sunday night in the states would air at 8 o’clock Monday night here,” said Smith. “The key reason for doing this is to keep prime time programming in a prime time.”
Parental controls are available and passwords can be set for certain channels, programs, and even for certain times of the day.
Americable has four types of set top boxes available for monthly lease: E940 Digital Only with a $115 deposit and monthly fee of $3; 1850 Digital and Analog with a $160 deposit and monthly fee of $4.25; 4250 Digital (High Definition capable) with a $240 deposit and monthly fee of $6.50; and 8300 Digital with Digital Video Recorder with a $435 deposit and monthly fee of $12.50.
For those who live in the barracks, only one box can be purchased per room. There is no limit to the amount of boxes purchased for other households.
Americable also offers three high-speed Internet packages.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Roger A. Escobar, the station telephone officer, said the high-speed Internet offered will be substantially faster than the Internet offered by the station telephone office and is comparable to stateside Internet.
All packages include five e-mail addresses; 500MB of personal webpage hosting; virus and spam e-mail filtering; cable modem with Ethernet cable and a one-time $50 registration fee.
The high-speed Internet packages offered include three Mbps for $41.95 per month, 10 Mbps for $64.95 per month or 15 Mbps for $79.95.
Costumers will also receive a 15 percent discount on Internet services when packaged with either the Digital Basic or Expanded Digital plans.
If any services are disconnected due to non-payment, all services will be disconnected until payment is received.
In order to reconnect services, the past due balance must be paid in addition to a reconnect fee and the next month’s payment, depending on when services are reconnected.
For additional information on the services to be offered, visit www.americablejapan.com.