Shentel to Drop Oakvale Service - WVVA TV Bluefield Beckley WV News, Weather and Sports

OAKVALE (WVVA)--- Shentel informs Oakvale customers they will no longer be providing service to the area.

William Pirtle, VP of sales and marketing, stated "After we did the detailed engineering, we determined that the cost to improve the signal, the cost to make the system compliant with construction requirements and zoning requirements and franchising requirements was just too high to justify the expense of building a new network."

OAKVALE (WVVA)--- Shentel has informed their Oakvale customers that starting April 10th, they will no longer be providing video services to the area.

Oakvale resident and Shentel customer Larry Pelayo says that the letter was sent to him Wednesday.

"My heart dropped when I read that letter," says Pelayo.

He believes that they are dropping service because of improperly installed cable lines that are going through a water pipe under U.S. 460.

Shentel did not respond to phone calls to WVVA's Josh Frketic.

It is unknown if any other provider will step up to provide cable video service to the area.

"We just heard about this today so we need to look into it further," says Michael Kelemen the Director of Government Relations for nearby provider Suddenlink.

"I would certainly feel not confidant to speculate on what we may or may not do."