Charter Communications, on Friday, faced being kicked out of New York state as a cable provider after a public commission voted to revoke its approval of Charter’s 2016 buyout of Time Warner Cable.
“In the weeks leading up to an election, rhetoric often becomes politically charged,” the cable operator said in a statement after New York’s Public Service Commission ruled that Charter had failed to meet commitments to bolster its local broadband service to secure earlier approval of its $56.7 billion merger to acquire TWC and rebranding as Spectrum.
“But the fact is that Spectrum has extended the reach of our advanced broadband network to more than 86,000 New York homes and businesses since our merger agreement with the PSC. Our 11,000 diverse and locally based workers, who serve millions of customers in the state every day, remain focused on delivering faster and better broadband to more New Yorkers, as we promised,” Charter added.
The state commission has given Charter 60 days to “effect an orderly transition” to becoming a successful cable provider, or face losing its authorization to operate in the state. Being kicked out of the state would not impact Charter’s wider takeover of TWC and operation of Spectrum elsewhere.
“After more than a year of administrative enforcement efforts to bring Charter into compliance with the commission’s merger order, the time has come for stronger actions to protect New Yorkers and the public interest,” commission chairman John B. Rhodes said in a statement on Friday.
The state commission claims Charter has failed to meet merger commitments to bring about full broadband coverage in New York state by providing service to a specified number of homes.
Shares in Charter Communications reacted to the New York state voting to rescind the 2016 merger approval by dipping just over 2 percent to $282.54 immediately after the decision, before recovering to be down by $1.18, or .5 percent, at $285.76 in late afternoon trading.
