By Dave Vieser. Say goodbye to Mi-Connection and hello to Continuum. Ten years after Mooresville and Davidson bought the old Adelphia Cable System, Mi-Connection has a new name. While the change gives the company a fresh coat of paint and a platform for more new services, it does not erase the debt that taxpayers in the two towns continue to shoulder.

More than $37 million in taxpayer funds have been paid since 2007 to finance debt service on the purchase,​ according to Mooresville’s Finance Director Deborah Hockett: $28.27million by Mooresville and $9.54 million by Davidson. The purchase remains controversial, as both towns must foot the bill.

Continuum also services Cornelius, which did not join in the purchase.​ “This felt from the start like a very typical private equity buyout with a lot of moving parts and both income statement and balance sheet risk,” said Commissioner Dave Gilroy who served on the Cornelius Town Board at the time. The majority of the board agreed as they voted 4-1 against committing any funds for the system.

Continuum’s  main competition in the three-town area comes from AT&T/U Verse, Spectrum (previously Time Warner Cable), Dish and Direct TV and, to a lesser extent, Windstream.

Continuum officials say they are working hard to improve the product currently used by some 17,000 subscribers. “There were many factors that went into our decision to change our name and rebrand, but the primary reason was because we wanted a name that better reflects who we are as a compa​ny,” said Continuum Marketing Director Ellen Baker.

She said the company emphasizes three basic service elements: “We are local, reliable and our focus is on customer care.”

The new name also represents advances since 2007​, including faster internet speeds, new technologies like TV Anywhere and “Continuum Whole Home DVR.”

The company has also implemented an “On-time Guarantee” that gives customers a credit if they are late for a scheduled installation or service call. ​“Their time is valuable and we want them to know we understand that,” Baker said.

Baker said that Continuum has also brought its drop/bury program in-house, which significantly decreases the amount of time a new cable line remains above ground. “And, we have brought commercial tech support in-house resulting in quicker responses for businesses.”

Still, some customers rave about the service while others complain about issues such as waiting a long time for service calls.

Baker said research conducted last year showed that over 80 percent of survey responders rated MI-Connection as very good or excellent in technical support and close to 70 percent​ gave them the same rating in customer care. “At Continuum we will strive to build on these numbers with the goal of being known as the best communications provider around,” she said.