NY PSC revokes Charter-Time Warner Cable merger approval

The New York Public Service Commission (PSC) revoked its approval of the 2016 Charter-Time Warner Cable merger for Charter’s failure to meet broadband deployment commitments. The PSC vote was unanimous. Charter now has 60 days to submit a transition plan to the PSC.

“Charter has continually failed to meet its commitments to the state, including its obligation to timely extend its high-speed broadband network to 145,000 unserved and underserved homes and businesses,” the NY PSC said in a statement the day before the vote. “Charter has also continued to make the false claim in advertisements and other public statements that it is exceeding its obligations to New York State, notwithstanding that the Commission has previously directed Charter to cease its misleading campaign and has referred the matter to the New York Attorney General for appropriate action. Charter's claims are simply false and the Commission will not stand idly by while Charter deceives the public and its shareholders.”

Earlier this year, the NY PSC ordered Charter to respond to the agency’s finding that “the company should pay $1 million to the State Treasury for missing a December deadline to expand its network to 36,771 additional homes and businesses that did not have high speed broadband as of the date of Charter's acquisition of Time Warner cable." And last year, the NY PSC fined Charter Communications $1 million for failing to meet merger conditions set by the PSC. The fine was the result of a settlement between the PSC and Charter after the company passed less than half the premises it committed to by this year. The $1 million will be used to provide equipment and Internet access for low-income users.

Links:

NY PSC Order revoking Charter-TWC conditional approval (NY PSC, July 27, 2018)

NY threatens to kick Charter out of the state after broadband failures (Ars Technica, July 26, 2018)

Charter failed to meet broadband buildout requirements, NY regulators say (Speed Matters, Mar. 29, 2018)

NY PSC fines Charter for failure to meet buildout condition (Speed Matters, June 22, 2017)