Spectrum May Not Be Booted From New York After All

NEW YORK — The Empire State's largest internet service provider may be allowed to stick around after all. New York utilities regulators reached a settlement Friday with Charter Communications — which offers internet service under the Spectrum brand name — after threatening to kick the company out of New York last summer.

The deal between Charter, the state's Department of Public Service and the Public Service Commission would require the company to expand its high-speed broadband service to 145,000 businesses and homes upstate and put $12 million toward other internet expansion efforts, officials say.

The expansion would have to be completed by September 2021 under the agreement, which is still subject to a 60-day public comment period and review by the commission, officials say.

"If approved by the Public Service Commission, the proposed agreement will allow the parties to move forward with the critical work of expanding access to broadband," John B. Rhodes, the Department of Public Service CEO and commission chairman, said in a statement.

The deal is an attempt at resolving a dispute between Charter and the state that goes back to the company's merger with Time Warner Cable.

The Public Service Commission approved that merger in January 2016 on conditions including that Charter expand its network to less dense parts of the state. But the commission revoked that approval last July and ordered Charter to transition its service to a new provider, which would have effectively booted the company from New York in its current form.

Under the settlement, the commission would take action to repeal that order once the new terms of Charter's network expansion are approved.

The settlement also says that it does not amount to an admission by Charter that it broke any laws or regulations. The deal allows the firm and state regulators to resolve "their disagreements without the need for costly litigation," Charter spokesman John Bonomo said in a statement.

"As a result, Charter will invest even more money in New York State than originally planned, bringing the educational, economic and social benefits of high-speed broadband to areas where access is often limited," Bonomo said.

The proposed deal comes on the heels of another settlement between Charter and the state Attorney General's Office over Spectrum internet service. The company agreed to pay $62.5 million in refunds to customers who faced slower-than-promised internet speeds, the AG's office announced in December.