Charter and the State New York settle on terms for an honest broadband buildout

16 July 2019 by Steve Blum
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Charter Communications won’t be thrown out of the State of New York. The Public Services Commission voted last week to accept a settlement that ends a dispute over whether Charter is meeting the obligations it accepted when its acquisition of Time Warner Cable systems was approved in 2016. It ends the threat that Charter could lose its franchise to operate cable systems in New York because, the commission said, Charter was “just lining its pockets”.

One of the points of contention was whether Charter could count addresses in New York City towards its commitment to build out broadband service to under and unserved communities.… More

New York and Charter settle broadband buildout dispute, set 100 Mbps download standard

14 May 2019 by Steve Blum
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Charter Communications has a tentative deal with the State of New York’s Public Service Commission and its public service department to keep its cable franchises there. Last year, the NYPSC began the process of revoking Charter’s authorisation to operate in the state by unwinding its purchase of Time Warner cable systems, because the company wasn’t meeting broadband build out obligations imposed when the deal was approved in 2016. According to the commission, Charter was, among other sins, attempting to “skirt obligations to serve rural communities” and was “just lining its pockets”.… More

CPUC orders Charter to prove its broadband upgrade claims

3 April 2019 by Steve Blum
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Charter Communications was given ten days to deliver granular broadband deployment data to the California Public Utilities Commission yesterday. Administrative law judge Karl Bemesderfer granted a motion by the CPUC’s public advocate office (PAO) to force Charter to hand over information to support its claim that it is meeting the conditions imposed by the commission when its purchase of Time Warner and Bright House cable systems in California was approved in 2016.

Among other things, the commission required Charter to upgrade all of its Californian systems – new and old – to 300 Mbps download capability by the end of this year.… More

Charter’s vague compliance claims should be publicly verified by CPUC

29 January 2019 by Steve Blum
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Charter Communications claims it’s providing near-gigabit level broadband service in virtually all of its Californian territory. Well, some of its Californian territory: in a filing with the California Public Utilities Commission, in opposition to a formal vetting of its claims that it is complying with service upgrade conditions imposed by the CPUC when it received approval to buy Time Warner cable systems, Charter says “it is already making service available at 940 Mbps to over 99% of the relevant households passed as of the end of year 2018”.… More

Charter’s credibility and rural upgrade claims challenged by California regulators

24 December 2018 by Steve Blum
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Charter Communications is facing another inquiry into whether or not it’s telling the truth about obligations it accepted when it bought cable systems owned by Time Warner and Bright House Communications in 2016. The California Public Utilities Commission was asked on Friday by its in-house watch dog – the public advocates office (PAO) – to re-open the case.

The PAO says that there’s reason to think that Charter is fiddling the books when it claims to be meeting broadband system upgrade requirements that were attached to the CPUC’s approval of the purchase.… More

CPUC should follow New York’s lead, hold Charter to obligations

17 August 2018 by Steve Blum
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The California Public Utilities Commission imposed a long list of obligations on Charter Communications, when it granted permission for the purchase of Californian cable systems belonging to Time Warner and Bright House in 2016. Some of those requirements mirror the conditions that the New York Public Services Commission attached to its approval of the deal.

Unlike the NYPSC, however, the CPUC has not demanded public accountability from Charter. New York regulators nipped at Charter’s heels since the acquisition closed, and then revoked permission and ordered Charter to reverse the sale and give up its New York markets because “the company was not interested in being a good corporate citizen”.… More

New York says Charter is “just lining its pockets”, revokes Time Warner purchase

13 August 2018 by Steve Blum
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The New York state public service commission started the process of unwinding Charter Communications’ purchase of Time Warner Cable systems, in a decision issued on 27 July 2018. The NYPSC says Charter is evading its responsibility to extend its infrastructure and upgrade its service, particularly in rural areas. Those obligations were imposed when the NYPSC gave its blessing to the acquisition.

According to the NYPSC, Charter’s sins include…

  • The company’s repeated failures to meet deadlines;
  • Charter’s attempts to skirt obligations to serve rural communities;
  • Unsafe practices in the field;
  • Its failure to fully commit to its obligations under the 2016 merger agreement; and
  • The company’s purposeful obfuscation of its performance and compliance obligations to the Commission and its customers.
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Charter’s franchise “should be revoked”, New York state says

6 May 2018 by Steve Blum
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Charter Communications is one step closer to losing its license to operate in New York City, if not New York state as a whole. Earlier this year, the state of New York’s Public Service Commission – its equivalent to the California Public Utilities Commission – slapped a $1 million fine on Charter and said it would “investigate Charter’s compliance with its New York City franchise agreements”.

That investigation seems to have led to legal action.… More

Charter's numbers don't add up, so New York adds a $1 million fine

27 March 2018 by Steve Blum
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Charter Communications is playing numbers games with its build out obligations and the State of New York’s Public Service Commission is blowing the whistle. Not just stopping the game, but also assessing a $1 million penalty.

As in California, conditions were attached to New York’s approval of Charter’s purchase of Time Warner Cable. Those obligations include “the extension of Charter’s network to pass an additional 145,000 homes and businesses across the State”. Charter has four years to complete that build out and must steadily complete 25% of the job each year.… More

Net neutrality is carefully tailored, FCC jurisdiction paramount says Charter

28 March 2017 by Steve Blum
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Master of disguise.

Proving the adage that it’s an ill wind that blows no good, Charter Communications is taking shelter behind the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to regulate broadband as a common carrier service. In a request submitted to a federal court in New York (h/t to the Hollywood Reporter), Charter argued that the New York attorney general shouldn’t be allowed to sue it in state court over consumer fraud allegations, because the FCC has preempted such matters when it issued its network neutrality order in 2015.… More