Berkshire Telephone is a local exchange serving five communities in Columbia County, N.Y., which are Kinderhook, Valatie, Niverville, Stuyvesant and Stuyvesant Falls. Established in 1926, the company serves more than 6,000 access lines. Its subsidiary, Berkshire Cable, operates four other lines of business that include cable television, paging, Internet access and long distance services. Berkshire Cable's network is predominately fiber optic so that customers can receive service without using ancillary equipment, but converters are required for premium channels and all digital services, including pay-per-view channels. OspreyNet is Berkshire Telephone s wholly-owned Internet service provider, developed especially for the Berkshire community to provide a direct connection to the web.