Kosciusko County residents who are Warner Cable customers may soon see a change in their cable carrier. But service and rates are expected to stay the same.

Marcus Cable, which serves Silver Lake, Akron and Wabash, will acquire franchises in Warsaw, Winona Lake, Etna Green and Burket that are owned by Warner Cable. It also will get franchise areas in and around some smaller cities in Wisconsin.

In return, Time Warner will receive franchise areas in Wisconsin,around Milwaukee and Green Bay.

"The only thing that's going to happen is that the name on the door is going to change," said Tom Flora, Warner Cable's general manager. "The same people will stay in place."

Flora said the change is tentatively scheduled to take place in the last quarter of 1997, but the timing depends on many factors, including the schedule and approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

He said he doesn't expect to see the name change on the building or the trucks until early 1998.

"The service will continue to stay the same and nothing will change," he said. "In terms of upgrades, hopefully changes will be positive" since Marcus Cable has a reputation for being more aggressive than Warner.

Rates won't change, Flora said, since part of the agreement is that Marcus Cable take on all commitments that Warner Cable made, including the rate schedule.

With the addition of Warner's Warsaw-area subscribers, Marcus Cable will have approximately 115,000 customers in Indiana.

Marcus Cable is the nation's ninth largest cable operator and serves 1.2 million customers in 18 states. [[In-content Ad]]