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New York State Votes to Kick Charter Out of the State for Poor Service
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BTR1701
Jul 31, 2018, 3:16:08 PM7/31/18
to
In an unprecedented move, the New York State Public Service Commission
has voted 4-0 to kick Charter out of the state. According to the
announcement (pdf) by the PSC, Charter has been given sixty days to file
a plan with the PSC that will "ensure an orderly transition to a
successor provider," including offloading the Time Warner Cable
territories acquired in the merger. The PSC also notes the vote was only
taken after more than a year of trying to get Charter to adhere to some
pretty modest broadband build-out requirements affixed to the deal:
"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零 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."
As noted previously, the state has been trying unsuccessfully for more
than a year to get Charter to actually comply with merger conditions.
Among them was the promise to expand broadband availability to around
149,000 homes across New York State, something Charter not only didn't
do, but actively misled regulators into thinking had already been
completed. In part, by claiming older, existing expansions were new
builds.
If you follow telecom (or other major megamergers) for any amount of
time, you'll quickly find that most merger conditions are pretty
theatrical in nature. Usually, said conditions are often proposed by the
companies themselves and were things they already had planned anyway,
making "accomplishing them" rather trivial, zero calorie affairs.
Companies sign off on these conditions because it helps them pretend the
merger actually benefits the public, and regulators sign off because it
provides cheap political brownie points and the illusion that companies
are being held accountable. Neither is usually true, especially in
telecom.
Even when the conditions are meaningful, it's pretty routine to see
telecom giants like Charter or Comcast ignore them completely, usually
with zero real repercussions. For its part, Charter issued a statement
claiming that this was all just an election year stunt by New York
Governor Andrew Cuomo:
"In the weeks leading up to an election, rhetoric often becomes
politically charged. 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. 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."
And while Cuomo's quest to protect his governorship from challenger
Cynthia Nixon likely isn't entirely absent from the move (beating up on
hated cable companies often provides easy political brownie points), the
state was forced toward tougher options after Charter ignored $3 million
worth of fines for missing merger commitments and misleading regulators.
This is also one of several long-standing state efforts to hold Charter
accountable to the public. New York is one of 23 states filing suit
against the FCC for its net neutrality repeal, and the state is also in
the middle of an ongoing lawsuit against Charter for not only providing
terrible service and slow speeds, but also for attempting to mislead
regulators on other fronts (including gaming an FCC system that uses
custom-firmware-embedded routers to test real-world speeds).
The move also has to be viewed in context of the newfound federal apathy
toward consumer welfare as illustrated by the elimination of broadband
privacy rules and net neutrality consumer protections. States are
increasingly trying to fill the void left by a Trump administration that
has made it abundantly clear (at least at the FCC) that openly pandering
to despised telecom monopolies and then trolling users about it is now
considered brainy tech and telecom policy.
It's very likely that New York State is simply trying to force Charter
to stop bullshitting and simply adhere to existing conditions, and most
consumer advocates I've spoken to think this simply ends with a Charter
settling and remaining in the state. Should Charter be forced to offload
its New York State assets to another company, that company would likely
be somebody like Comcast, which, based on consumer satisfaction studies,
wouldn't likely be much of an improvement.
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180730/11412540325/new-york-state-vot
es-to-kick-charter-out-state-poor-service-failing-to-meet-merger-conditio
ns.shtml
has voted 4-0 to kick Charter out of the state. According to the
announcement (pdf) by the PSC, Charter has been given sixty days to file
a plan with the PSC that will "ensure an orderly transition to a
successor provider," including offloading the Time Warner Cable
territories acquired in the merger. The PSC also notes the vote was only
taken after more than a year of trying to get Charter to adhere to some
pretty modest broadband build-out requirements affixed to the deal:
"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零 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."
As noted previously, the state has been trying unsuccessfully for more
than a year to get Charter to actually comply with merger conditions.
Among them was the promise to expand broadband availability to around
149,000 homes across New York State, something Charter not only didn't
do, but actively misled regulators into thinking had already been
completed. In part, by claiming older, existing expansions were new
builds.
If you follow telecom (or other major megamergers) for any amount of
time, you'll quickly find that most merger conditions are pretty
theatrical in nature. Usually, said conditions are often proposed by the
companies themselves and were things they already had planned anyway,
making "accomplishing them" rather trivial, zero calorie affairs.
Companies sign off on these conditions because it helps them pretend the
merger actually benefits the public, and regulators sign off because it
provides cheap political brownie points and the illusion that companies
are being held accountable. Neither is usually true, especially in
telecom.
Even when the conditions are meaningful, it's pretty routine to see
telecom giants like Charter or Comcast ignore them completely, usually
with zero real repercussions. For its part, Charter issued a statement
claiming that this was all just an election year stunt by New York
Governor Andrew Cuomo:
"In the weeks leading up to an election, rhetoric often becomes
politically charged. 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. 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."
And while Cuomo's quest to protect his governorship from challenger
Cynthia Nixon likely isn't entirely absent from the move (beating up on
hated cable companies often provides easy political brownie points), the
state was forced toward tougher options after Charter ignored $3 million
worth of fines for missing merger commitments and misleading regulators.
This is also one of several long-standing state efforts to hold Charter
accountable to the public. New York is one of 23 states filing suit
against the FCC for its net neutrality repeal, and the state is also in
the middle of an ongoing lawsuit against Charter for not only providing
terrible service and slow speeds, but also for attempting to mislead
regulators on other fronts (including gaming an FCC system that uses
custom-firmware-embedded routers to test real-world speeds).
The move also has to be viewed in context of the newfound federal apathy
toward consumer welfare as illustrated by the elimination of broadband
privacy rules and net neutrality consumer protections. States are
increasingly trying to fill the void left by a Trump administration that
has made it abundantly clear (at least at the FCC) that openly pandering
to despised telecom monopolies and then trolling users about it is now
considered brainy tech and telecom policy.
It's very likely that New York State is simply trying to force Charter
to stop bullshitting and simply adhere to existing conditions, and most
consumer advocates I've spoken to think this simply ends with a Charter
settling and remaining in the state. Should Charter be forced to offload
its New York State assets to another company, that company would likely
be somebody like Comcast, which, based on consumer satisfaction studies,
wouldn't likely be much of an improvement.
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180730/11412540325/new-york-state-vot
es-to-kick-charter-out-state-poor-service-failing-to-meet-merger-conditio
ns.shtml
moviePig
Jul 31, 2018, 3:31:49 PM7/31/18
to
On 7/31/2018 3:15 PM, BTR1701 wrote:
> In an unprecedented move, the New York State Public Service Commission
> has voted 4-0 to kick Charter out of the state. According to the
> announcement (pdf) by the PSC, Charter has been given sixty days to file
> a plan with the PSC that will "ensure an orderly transition to a
> successor provider," including offloading the Time Warner Cable
> territories acquired in the merger. The PSC also notes the vote was only
> taken after more than a year of trying to get Charter to adhere to some
> pretty modest broadband build-out requirements affixed to the deal:
>
> "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 Commission¹s merger order, the
> In an unprecedented move, the New York State Public Service Commission
> has voted 4-0 to kick Charter out of the state. According to the
> announcement (pdf) by the PSC, Charter has been given sixty days to file
> a plan with the PSC that will "ensure an orderly transition to a
> successor provider," including offloading the Time Warner Cable
> territories acquired in the merger. The PSC also notes the vote was only
> taken after more than a year of trying to get Charter to adhere to some
> pretty modest broadband build-out requirements affixed to the deal:
>
> "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
malfeasance -- even if the net result for customers is a wash.
--
- - - - - - - -
YOUR taste at work...
http://www.moviepig.com
EGK
Jul 31, 2018, 3:55:31 PM7/31/18
to
On Tue, 31 Jul 2018 15:31:45 -0400, moviePig <pwal...@moviepig.com> wrote:
>On 7/31/2018 3:15 PM, BTR1701 wrote:
>> In an unprecedented move, the New York State Public Service Commission
>> has voted 4-0 to kick Charter out of the state. According to the
>> announcement (pdf) by the PSC, Charter has been given sixty days to file
>> a plan with the PSC that will "ensure an orderly transition to a
>> successor provider," including offloading the Time Warner Cable
>> territories acquired in the merger. The PSC also notes the vote was only
>> taken after more than a year of trying to get Charter to adhere to some
>> pretty modest broadband build-out requirements affixed to the deal:
>>
>> "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零 merger order, the
>On 7/31/2018 3:15 PM, BTR1701 wrote:
>> In an unprecedented move, the New York State Public Service Commission
>> has voted 4-0 to kick Charter out of the state. According to the
>> announcement (pdf) by the PSC, Charter has been given sixty days to file
>> a plan with the PSC that will "ensure an orderly transition to a
>> successor provider," including offloading the Time Warner Cable
>> territories acquired in the merger. The PSC also notes the vote was only
>> taken after more than a year of trying to get Charter to adhere to some
>> pretty modest broadband build-out requirements affixed to the deal:
>>
>> "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
knew about this. Spectrum will likely tie this up in court for the
foreseeable future.
This could be a "be careful what you wish for" thing though. One of the few
cable companies that could buy Spectrum in NY is Comcast and who the hell
wants them and their data caps?
anim8rfsk
Jul 31, 2018, 4:10:00 PM7/31/18
to
In article <atropos-91930D...@news.giganews.com>,
So did Charter stop greasing the city council or what?
--
Join your old RAT friends at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1688985234647266/
--
Join your old RAT friends at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1688985234647266/
anim8rfsk
Jul 31, 2018, 4:10:32 PM7/31/18
to
EGK
Jul 31, 2018, 4:24:57 PM7/31/18
to
too.
And yes again, i think Spectrum stopped greasing the palms of the state's
politicians. Most people figure they did that to get the merger/purchase of
Time Warner cable done in the first place. Lots and lots of people were
complaining that allowing it was going to be a bad deal for NY state but it
went through. Now it's like everyone's going "told ya so".
Adam H. Kerman
Jul 31, 2018, 4:40:23 PM7/31/18
to
BTR1701 <atr...@mac.com> wrote:
>In an unprecedented move, the New York State Public Service Commission
>has voted 4-0 to kick Charter out of the state. According to the
>announcement (pdf) by the PSC, Charter has been given sixty days to file
>a plan with the PSC that will "ensure an orderly transition to a
>successor provider," including offloading the Time Warner Cable
>territories acquired in the merger.
I think the state is precluded from doing this under the Telecom Act of
>In an unprecedented move, the New York State Public Service Commission
>has voted 4-0 to kick Charter out of the state. According to the
>announcement (pdf) by the PSC, Charter has been given sixty days to file
>a plan with the PSC that will "ensure an orderly transition to a
>successor provider," including offloading the Time Warner Cable
>territories acquired in the merger.
1992, which is how long it's been since state and municipal utility
commissions had the ability to regulate cable service.
>The PSC also notes the vote was only
>taken after more than a year of trying to get Charter to adhere to some
>pretty modest broadband build-out requirements affixed to the deal:
administrative enforcement action?
>. . .
>https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180730/11412540325/new-york-state-votes-to-kick-charter-out-state-poor-service-failing-to-meet-merger-conditions.shtml
BTR1701
Jul 31, 2018, 4:55:03 PM7/31/18
to
In article <anim8rfsk-C36BF...@news.easynews.com>,
City? They were kicked out of the entire state. They've been skimping on
a lot of oils and lotions.
a lot of oils and lotions.
EGK
Jul 31, 2018, 5:25:54 PM7/31/18
to
On Tue, 31 Jul 2018 20:40:18 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman" <a...@chinet.com>
wrote:
>BTR1701 <atr...@mac.com> wrote:
>
>>In an unprecedented move, the New York State Public Service Commission
>>has voted 4-0 to kick Charter out of the state. According to the
>>announcement (pdf) by the PSC, Charter has been given sixty days to file
>>a plan with the PSC that will "ensure an orderly transition to a
>>successor provider," including offloading the Time Warner Cable
>>territories acquired in the merger.
>
>I think the state is precluded from doing this under the Telecom Act of
>1992, which is how long it's been since state and municipal utility
>commissions had the ability to regulate cable service.
That's apparently one of Spectrum's arguments. They agreed to all state's
criteria for the merger/takeover of Time Warner then ignored it when it
suited them. When the state called them out on it, Spectrum's argument was
basically "nyah nyah nyah nyah... you can't do that because states have noi
authority to regulate us".
>>The PSC also notes the vote was only
>>taken after more than a year of trying to get Charter to adhere to some
>>pretty modest broadband build-out requirements affixed to the deal:
>
>Isn't this what court is for if Charter doesn't feel it's subject to
>administrative enforcement action?
This site is gives a lot of info. Tom Rutledge, Charter CEO who's
compensation got up to an obscene 98.5 million a year is "nothing to see
here. All is well."
http://stopthecap.com/
wrote:
>BTR1701 <atr...@mac.com> wrote:
>
>>In an unprecedented move, the New York State Public Service Commission
>>has voted 4-0 to kick Charter out of the state. According to the
>>announcement (pdf) by the PSC, Charter has been given sixty days to file
>>a plan with the PSC that will "ensure an orderly transition to a
>>successor provider," including offloading the Time Warner Cable
>>territories acquired in the merger.
>
>I think the state is precluded from doing this under the Telecom Act of
>1992, which is how long it's been since state and municipal utility
>commissions had the ability to regulate cable service.
criteria for the merger/takeover of Time Warner then ignored it when it
suited them. When the state called them out on it, Spectrum's argument was
basically "nyah nyah nyah nyah... you can't do that because states have noi
authority to regulate us".
>>The PSC also notes the vote was only
>>taken after more than a year of trying to get Charter to adhere to some
>>pretty modest broadband build-out requirements affixed to the deal:
>
>Isn't this what court is for if Charter doesn't feel it's subject to
>administrative enforcement action?
compensation got up to an obscene 98.5 million a year is "nothing to see
here. All is well."
http://stopthecap.com/
Adam H. Kerman
Jul 31, 2018, 6:18:16 PM7/31/18
to
EGK <memy...@null.net> wrote:
>On Tue, 31 Jul 2018 20:40:18 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman" <a...@chinet.com>:
through the utility regulation process. I just don't see how they can
prevent them from doing business in the state due to federal
pre-emption.
>>>The PSC also notes the vote was only
>>>taken after more than a year of trying to get Charter to adhere to some
>>>pretty modest broadband build-out requirements affixed to the deal:
>>Isn't this what court is for if Charter doesn't feel it's subject to
>>administrative enforcement action?
>This site is gives a lot of info. Tom Rutledge, Charter CEO who's
>compensation got up to an obscene 98.5 million a year is "nothing to see
>here. All is well."
>http://stopthecap.com/
Thanks
>On Tue, 31 Jul 2018 20:40:18 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman" <a...@chinet.com>:
>>BTR1701 <atr...@mac.com> wrote:
>>>In an unprecedented move, the New York State Public Service Commission
>>>has voted 4-0 to kick Charter out of the state. According to the
>>>announcement (pdf) by the PSC, Charter has been given sixty days to file
>>>a plan with the PSC that will "ensure an orderly transition to a
>>>successor provider," including offloading the Time Warner Cable
>>>territories acquired in the merger.
>>I think the state is precluded from doing this under the Telecom Act of
>>1992, which is how long it's been since state and municipal utility
>>commissions had the ability to regulate cable service.
>That's apparently one of Spectrum's arguments. They agreed to all state's
>criteria for the merger/takeover of Time Warner then ignored it when it
>suited them. When the state called them out on it, Spectrum's argument was
>basically "nyah nyah nyah nyah... you can't do that because states have noi
>authority to regulate us".
I'll guess that the state can enforce the merger conditions but not
>>>In an unprecedented move, the New York State Public Service Commission
>>>has voted 4-0 to kick Charter out of the state. According to the
>>>announcement (pdf) by the PSC, Charter has been given sixty days to file
>>>a plan with the PSC that will "ensure an orderly transition to a
>>>successor provider," including offloading the Time Warner Cable
>>>territories acquired in the merger.
>>I think the state is precluded from doing this under the Telecom Act of
>>1992, which is how long it's been since state and municipal utility
>>commissions had the ability to regulate cable service.
>That's apparently one of Spectrum's arguments. They agreed to all state's
>criteria for the merger/takeover of Time Warner then ignored it when it
>suited them. When the state called them out on it, Spectrum's argument was
>basically "nyah nyah nyah nyah... you can't do that because states have noi
>authority to regulate us".
through the utility regulation process. I just don't see how they can
prevent them from doing business in the state due to federal
pre-emption.
>>>The PSC also notes the vote was only
>>>taken after more than a year of trying to get Charter to adhere to some
>>>pretty modest broadband build-out requirements affixed to the deal:
>>Isn't this what court is for if Charter doesn't feel it's subject to
>>administrative enforcement action?
>This site is gives a lot of info. Tom Rutledge, Charter CEO who's
>compensation got up to an obscene 98.5 million a year is "nothing to see
>here. All is well."
>http://stopthecap.com/
anim8rfsk
Aug 1, 2018, 12:03:31 AM8/1/18
to
In article <08h1mddhkeclj1s1c...@4ax.com>,
They followed Comcast's lead closely.
> And yes again, i think Spectrum stopped greasing the palms of the state's
> politicians. Most people figure they did that to get the merger/purchase of
> Time Warner cable done in the first place. Lots and lots of people were
> complaining that allowing it was going to be a bad deal for NY state but it
> went through. Now it's like everyone's going "told ya so".
I wonder who you grease at the state level? I mean, the city level is
obvious, you go right to the Corporation Commission.
> And yes again, i think Spectrum stopped greasing the palms of the state's
> politicians. Most people figure they did that to get the merger/purchase of
> Time Warner cable done in the first place. Lots and lots of people were
> complaining that allowing it was going to be a bad deal for NY state but it
> went through. Now it's like everyone's going "told ya so".
obvious, you go right to the Corporation Commission.
RichA
Aug 1, 2018, 12:59:22 AM8/1/18
to
I hate Cuomo and his lib dynasty, but I'd like to warn New Yorkers; Ontario had a lesbian-prog premiere and it was a disaster for us. They just got kicked out, so badly the party (liberal) almost ceased to exist. Avoid Nixon, send her back to some Sex in the City rehash.
bruce2...@gmail.com
Aug 1, 2018, 12:59:52 AM8/1/18
to
On Tuesday, July 31, 2018 at 3:16:08 PM UTC-4, BTR1701 wrote:
> In an unprecedented move, the New York State Public Service Commission
> has voted 4-0 to kick Charter out of the state.
How many of them are republican?
> In an unprecedented move, the New York State Public Service Commission
> has voted 4-0 to kick Charter out of the state.
===================================
In shocker, fed-up regulators move to kick Spectrum cable out of New York state
Los Angeles Times · 9 hours ago
-- http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-spectrum-new-york-20180731-story.html
The Horny Goat
Aug 3, 2018, 5:55:55 PM8/3/18
to
On Tue, 31 Jul 2018 21:59:18 -0700 (PDT), RichA <rande...@gmail.com>
wrote:
>I hate Cuomo and his lib dynasty, but I'd like to warn New Yorkers; Ontario had a lesbian-prog premiere and it was a disaster for us. They just got kicked out, so badly the party (liberal) almost ceased to exist. Avoid Nixon, send her back to some Sex in the City rehash.
>
With all due respect it wasn't who wasa in Kathleen Wynne's bed that
caused her party's catastrophic defeat at the polls. It was the
decisions made at the Ontario cabinet table. Parties don't go from 38%
in the polls to 19% (albeit first past the post in a 4 way vote split)
just because they're mad at the leader's maritial situation.
No - Wynne got schooled and schooled hard.
wrote:
>I hate Cuomo and his lib dynasty, but I'd like to warn New Yorkers; Ontario had a lesbian-prog premiere and it was a disaster for us. They just got kicked out, so badly the party (liberal) almost ceased to exist. Avoid Nixon, send her back to some Sex in the City rehash.
>
caused her party's catastrophic defeat at the polls. It was the
decisions made at the Ontario cabinet table. Parties don't go from 38%
in the polls to 19% (albeit first past the post in a 4 way vote split)
just because they're mad at the leader's maritial situation.
No - Wynne got schooled and schooled hard.
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