Cox digital cable box

As technology marches on, the time has finally come: Cox Communication’s analog signals are being phased out, and as a result cable subscribers soon won’t be able plug their TVs directly to the wall.

Instead, subscribers into Cox’s TV Starter pack, or those with higher packages that plug secondary TVs into the wall without a box, will need to get mini boxes in order to keep getting a signal after August 4.

Bruce Berkinshaw, director of product operations at Cox Communications, said this move could afffect up to 70 percent of all subscribers.

“This is the biggest change we’ve ever done, ” he said.

Starting this week, Cox customers without a box can pick them up at a Cox Solutions store, or have some mailed to them by calling 918-806-8949 or visiting l.

The good news is that one new, palm-sized hardware per household will be available at no initial cost for one year; some Cox customers may qualify for an extended use plan. After the first year, Cox will charge $1.99 per month for each box in a household.

Customers will enjoy numerous new benefits. To start, the box will allow customers to get high-quality digital signals on their televisions, as the direct-to-wall method only provided analog signals.

Berkinshaw said the new mini boxes can be connected to non-high-definition televisions via a coaxial cable and provide access to the Cox lineup, though these televisions are incapable of producing a high-definition image.

Additionally, the box will allow TV Starter customers to get 40 additional channels, including Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, NBC Sports, GSN and National Geographic. They’ll also grant access to the 45 Music Choice channels of music that had previously been restricted to customers on higher tiers.

On top of that, the boxes provide interactive menus that will allow customers to search through programming. Previously, TV Starter customers didn’t have access to menus or a channel that scrolled through programming.

That’s the carrot. Here’s the stick — customers without a box will begin to lose their channels five at a time starting Tuesday, May 26.

Berkinshaw said the gradual removal would likely cause less frustration from customers than simply removing all of the analog channels at once.

“This digital transition will require action from many of our customers, and we realize that it may be confusing to some, ” he said. “We want our customers to know that we are doing everything possible to make this transition easy and seamless.”

Berkinshaw said the transition away from analog is necessary because those signals currently take up 40 percent of all Cox’s cable bandwidth while only broadcasting 12 percent of its programming. Freeing up that bandwidth will help Cox provide additional services in the future, including 4K signals, gigabit Internet speeds, and of course. more video channels.