Charter, our area cable company, has just recently started offering HDTV. Only six channels are available (ESPN,HBO,Showtime,etc.) and for six months there is no cost other than their regular prices for cable. They say they will have the networks up and running in HD about the same time their free offer expires. Is there a FCC requirement that if a cable company offers local stations (ABC, NBC, etc.) in SD they must offer the same station's HD versions for free? The "local" stations we receive are broadcast from Portland, Oregon which is 100 miles away so OTA is out of the question. Just curious.

Cable company policies vary on providing local HD for 'free'. Most cableco's do provide local HD in the clear (un-encrypted) which can be received with a QAM tuner (or a rented cable STB) but you still have to subscribe to at least some cable package.

Check the HDTV Local Forum, for the topic covering your area.

The FCC requirement is that if a channel is broadcast in both analog and digital, the MSO must carry the analog signal, if the broadcaster elects "must-carry". If the channel is broadcast in digital-only, then the MSO must carry the digital signal, if the broadcaster elects "must-carry".