CenturyLink plans TV service upgrades in Eagle County

Western Eagle County will soon receive TV service from CenturyLink that’s even more advanced than what’s available in Denver.

CenturyLink representatives met with county commissioners July 23 to brief them on the upgrades that will be coming when the county renews its franchise agreement with the company in the near future.

“Eagle County is joining the first 10 markets to get Prism TV,” said Abel Chavez, CenturyLink’s director of state and local government affairs.

The first 10 markets are much bigger population centers compared to Eagle County and include areas such as Las Vegas.

“Since we already have a franchise here, this is an opportunity to do two things – upgrade it and test it in a rural market,” Chavez said. “In this case, a small mountain community is going to have something that Denver doesn’t have yet and it’s all going in on our existing network. We’re not adding to our footprint.”

CenturyLink covers Eagle County and the towns in the western half of the county, Eagle and Gypsum. Comcast is the dominant provider for towns in the eastern half of the county.

Prism is an advanced TV service delivered over CenturyLink’s dynamic fiber-optic network.

“We found that residents wanted more broadband and high-definition channels,” Chavez said.

Prism features a “whole home” digital video recording system, which means users can record and pause TV shows, and resume watching on a different device within the home system.

Chavez said the system can be a hub for things like music, photos and Internet as well, using just one remote.

“You can connect your iPad to the system and watch TV on that even when you’re not in the house,” he said.

The new system also boasts faster search and navigation features, videos on demand, and an interactive dashboard that allows things like Internet browsing while watching TV.

“We’ve been working on this for five years,” said Alan Davis, CenturyLink’s area operations manager. “We’re very excited.”