Why do you need power to come up from the cellar? Are there no receptacles in the room, or am I missing something here?

I don't think he's actually talking about electricity when he says power.
I assume he means that there is a cable outlet on the second floor and a cable stub in the basement. He assumes they match up but they don't. Or there is a break in the line somewhere.

The only way to run a new cable is to either
(1) run it within the walls or
(2) run it right through the wall in the basement to the outside and up the side of the house and punch back through the wall into the interior.

"(2) run it right through the wall in the basement to the outside and up the side of the house and punch back through the wall into the interior."

The cheap and rather hideous way to do it.

Hi,
Before getting too wild I would suggest you take the cable covers off and see if every thing is hooked up the way you want it.
Good Luck Woodbutcher

The cheap and rather hideous way to do it.

Totally agree, but I thought I'd throw it out there as an option.

yep. 1st thing is to make sure that there is really a cable attached to that cable outlet. If there is, then check continuity. If you don't have either, it's time to "go fishing".

When we purchased our house we didn't want to use the current cable provider (A), so we went with the newer company (B). Company B said they couldn't use the older cables because (by law) they belonged to Company A.

These older lines would still be usable if we ever wanted to switch to the other provider.

Company B ran a new line from the street to the house. Put in new box and drilled a hole through the outside wall into our living room to place the cable.

I think most folks would prefer to avoid using the 'cheap and rather hideous way' of doing it.

Brickeye, would you mind telling us what alternatives the cable companies in your area offer?