Crazy but true: Spectrum Cable, which used to be Time Warner, which really used to be part of the real Time Warner, has been booted from New York state. The New York State Public Service Commission revoked the approval of the merger between Charter Communications and Time Warner that created Spectrum.
And they’re out. What will happen next? Stay tuned. But this is particular to their broadband and web service. I’ve personally been in a fight with Spectrum for weeks over shoddy service. The internet shuts off several times a day. I’m constantly rebooting computers and changing to other services. I guess I wasn’t alone!
More details to follow. I guess we’re all headed for RCN. Who knows? According to the commission’s press release, Charter has 60 days to file a plan for the future, and they cannot interrupt service.
The Commission cited:
The company’s repeated failures to meet deadlines;
Charter’s attempts to skirt obligations to serve rural communities;
Unsafe practices in the field;
Its failure to fully commit to its obligations
under the 2016 merger agreement;
and
The company’s purposeful obfuscation of its performance and compliance obligations to the
Commission and its customers.
According to a release: “These recurring failures led the Commission to the broader conclusion that the company was not interested in being a good corporate citizen and that the Commission could no longer in good faith and conscience allow it
to operate in New York. Today’s actions are meant to address Charter’s failings and to ensure New York has a partner interested in the public good, not just lining its pockets.
“Charter’s repeated failures to serve New Yorkers and honor its commitments are well documented and are
only getting worse.
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,” said Commission Chair John B. Rhodes.
“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.”
When Margaret Atwood published “The Handmaid’s Tale” in 1985, little could she imagine the popularity it would engender in the next century.
