New York regulators revoked their approval of Charter Communications Inc.’s merger with Time Warner Cable Inc. on Friday and ordered the company to find another cable provider for its more than 2 million customers in the state.
The action by the Public Service Commission follows months of disagreements over the company’s progress in meeting goals set by regulators in 2016 as a condition of their merger approval— especially an expansion of broadband to rural areas.
The commission ordered Charter, doing business as Spectrum, to file a plan within 60 days to ensure an “orderly transition to a successor” provider or providers for New York state customers. Charter also must ensure that cable and internet customers’ service is not interrupted during the transition.
Charter serves 41 states and is New York’s largest cable provider. It provides service in Auburn, Syracuse, Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, Manhattan, Staten Island, Queens and parts of Brooklyn. The cable company completed its $67 billion purchase of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks in May 2016.
“Charter’s repeated failures to serve New Yorkers and honor its commitments are well documented and are only getting worse … (T)he time has come for stronger actions to protect New Yorkers and the public interest,” commission chairman John B. Rhodes said in a prepared statement.
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