Charter Communications, which operates the cable television service in Fulton, on Wednesday will add phone service, faster Internet service and more high definition channels.
Charter will launch Charter Phone, which will provide regular phone service using the cable line into the home or business.
It also will start Charter Internet, with speeds up to 100 Mbps, and Charter's On Demand service. The upgrade also means more than 160 new channels will be added, including more than 60 channels of high definition programming.
The upgrade is part of a $5 million upgrade in services provided in the Columbia and Fulton areas.
"We are committed to delivering a greater experience to our customers," said Sean O'Donnell, Charter's vice president and general manager for Missouri an Illinois.
As part of the cable service enhancement, Charter will reorganize its current channel listing and create neighborhoods of programming to make it easier to find favorite channels.
Digital View and Digital View Plus channels include faith and values, kids, science, history, news, home and entertainment channels. They will be grouped in the 100 channel range.
Sports viewing and league packages will be in the 200s, adult and pay-per-view programming will be grouped in the 400s. The 500s will contain premium services such as HBO and Showtime. The 600s through 800s will contain high definition channels. Music, government and education as well as Charter On Demand will be found in the 900s.