NATCHEZ — On Thursday morning, the Today Show and other programming was coming in on a clear crisp signal coming out of Jackson.

And that new signal made its way to Natchez through a new fiber optic line recently installed by CableOne.

CableOne service manager Bobby McCool said the new line actually connected to an existing line near Roxie and was installed to bring a sharper picture into Natchez.

“It’s going to clear up a lot of our (reception) problems,” McCool said.

Until Thursday, the signal coming from Jackson-area stations was harnessed by an antenna in Natchez.

But foul weather and cloudy skies could weaken the signal and make for a snowy picture here in Natchez.

And now, provided the lines aren’t knocked down in a storm, McCool said, reception won’t be a problem.

But the installation of the new lines wasn’t cheap.

McCool said he was unsure of the total cost to install the new lines but knew it was “very costly.”

And as the cost of doing business goes up, so to will CableOne’s rates, McCool said.

“Nothing has been planned for a rate increase at this time,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean there won’t be one.”

But McCool said since rate increase decisions are made at the corporate level, he has no way to know when they’ll be coming.

While the company is just now utilizing its new fiber optic lines, there are no plans to connect Natchez to Baton Rouge with same technology.

McCool said that would only bring in duplicate programming and would not be cost effective for the company.