Spectrum Cable To Be Booted From NY Under Commission Decision

ALBANY, NY — New York's utilities regulator moved to stop the company that runs Spectrum cable from operating in the state Friday. The Public Service Commission revoked approval of Charter Communications' 2016 merger with Time Warner Cable and ordered the company to transition its service to a new provider.

The company's "recurring failures" to live up to the terms of the merger approval led the commission to find it "could no longer in good faith and conscience allow (Charter) to operate in New York," according to a press release announcing the move.

The commission gave Charter, which does business as Spectrum in New York, about two months to come up with a transition plan and ordered the company to "cease its operations in New York State previously served by Time Warner Cable."

The commission, known as the PSC, said it ordered the state's largest cable provider to pay $1 million to the state, bringing its total ordered payments to $3 million. The PSC also announced plans to file a lawsuit against the company Friday in state Supreme Court.

"Charter’s non-compliance and brazenly disrespectful behavior toward New York State and its customers necessitates the actions taken today seeking court-ordered penalties for its failures, and revoking the Charter merger approval," commission Chairman John B. Rhodes said in a statement

A spokesman for Charter suggested the decision was politically motivated as Gov. Andrew Cuomo seeks re-election to a third term.

"In the weeks leading up to an election, rhetoric often becomes politically charged," spokesman Andrew Russell said in a statement. "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."

The PSC approved Charter's merger with Time Warner in January 2016 on several conditions, including that it extend its network to an additional 145,000 homes and businesses in "less densely populated" parts of the state within four years, according to the commission.

But the PSC charged that Charter has failed to keep that pledge, most recently missing a June target for service expansion by more than 40 percent while blaming other companies for its shortcomings.

Charter has 60 days to file a plan to transition its New York operations to a different company, the commission said, but must continue to serve its 2 million customers until that transition is complete.

The company will continue to provide service as it promised, Russell said. He did not say whether Charter plans to challenge the commission's decision.

"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," Russell said.

(Lead image: Photo from Shutterstock)