Full Channel, Inc. was an American pay television and telecommunications provider set in Rhode Island. At the time of its acquisition by CountryWide Broadband it was the third-largest cable television and Internet service provider in the state. Its wired communications network was available to the approximately 50,000 residents of Bristol County, Rhode Island. Full Channel's main office was at 57 Everett Street in Warren, Rhode Island, U.S.
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History
In 1965, John Donofrio, a former broadcast engineer and general manager at WPFM (now
WLVO) in Providence and sales executive at
Charles River Broadcasting
Charles River Broadcasting Company was the owner of three classical music stations, one classic rock station, one CNN Headline News affiliate in Rhode Island, and a syndicated classical music program service.
History
The company began in 1948 w ...
in Boston, founded Full-Channel TV, Inc. upon learning of the potential success of
Community Antenna Television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...
. Later that year, Donofrio's company applied for and was awarded the first cable television franchise in Rhode Island after his application was approved by the City of
East Providence. However, before Full Channel began construction of a system in East Providence, cable television franchising authority was transferred away from local municipalities to the
Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission. In 1974, Full Channel was among the nine original cable franchises awarded by the PUC and was ultimately assigned to the state's CATV Service Area 5, Bristol County, Rhode Island. It would not be until 1982 that legal wrangling would allow for the original franchisees to begin building their systems.
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In 1982, Full Channel hired a workforce, opened a local business office and began building its cable system. In the winter of 1983, the company's first cable television subscriber was connected. The company remained the only cable provider in Bristol County until 2001 when ]Cox Communications
Cox Communications, Inc. (also known as Cox Cable and formerly Cox Broadcasting Corporation, Dimension Cable Services and Times-Mirror Cable) is an American digital cable television provider, telecommunications and home automation services. It i ...
overbuilt Full Channel as part of its bid to service the entire state of Rhode Island.
From Donofrio's death in 2004 until 2018, his daughter Linda Jane Maaia, son-in-law William Maaia and grandson Levi C. Maaia ran the company until the sale of its telecommunications network to CountryWide Broadband for an undisclosed price.Al Jazeera English
Al Jazeera English (AJE; ar, الجزيرة, translit=al-jazīrah, , literally "The Peninsula", referring to the Qatar Peninsula) is an international 24-hour English-language news channel owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network, which is o ...
in its lineup
* In 2011 Full Channel begins offering residential Digital Phone services
* In 2013 Full Channel upgrades its network to DOCSIS 3.0 broadband Internet service[ ead link]
* In 2019, Full Channel begins offering services under the i3 Broadband name.
References
{{reflist
External links
i3 Broadband's official website
Mass media companies established in 1965
Telecommunications companies established in 1965
Cable television companies of the United States