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posted by takyon on Monday April 22 2019, @07:32PM   Printer-friendly
from the business-prescription dept.

Submitted via IRC for ErkleLives

Charter Communications won't be kicked out of New York after all.

Nine months after a New York government agency ordered Charter to leave the state over its alleged failure to comply with merger conditions, state officials have announced a settlement that will let Charter stay in New York in exchange for further broadband expansions. The settlement will enforce a new version of the original merger conditions and require a $12 million payment, about half of which could help other ISPs deploy broadband.

Source: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/04/charter-avoids-getting-kicked-out-of-new-york-agrees-to-new-merger-conditions/

Previously: Charter (Time Warner Cable) Sued by State of New York for Slow Internet
New York State Threatens To Revoke Charter's Cable Franchise For Bullshitting


Original Submission

Related Stories

Charter (Time Warner Cable) Sued by State of New York for Slow Internet 9 comments

Charter Communications is being sued by the State of New York for providing Internet speeds much slower than advertised:

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman today filed a lawsuit against Charter and its Time Warner Cable (TWC) subsidiary, claiming that the Internet provider "allegedly conduct[ed] a deliberate scheme to defraud and mislead New Yorkers by promising Internet service that they knew they could not deliver."

State officials said they conducted a 16-month investigation that reviewed internal corporate communications "and hundreds of thousands of subscriber speed tests," concluding that Spectrum-TWC customers were "dramatically short-changed on both speed and reliability," the attorney general's announcement said. The 87-page summons and complaint filed in the New York State Supreme Court is available here.

"The suit alleges that subscribers' wired Internet speeds for the premium plan (100, 200, and 300 Mbps) were up to 70 percent slower than promised; Wi-Fi speeds were even slower, with some subscribers getting speeds that were more than 80 percent slower than what they had paid for," the announcement said. "As alleged in the complaint, Spectrum-TWC charged New Yorkers as much as $109.99 per month for premium plans [that] could not achieve speeds promised in their slower plans."


Original Submission

New York State Threatens To Revoke Charter's Cable Franchise For Bullshitting 19 comments

Submitted via IRC for AndyTheAbsurd

New York State and the nation's second biggest cable provider (Charter Spectrum) aren't getting along particularly well. Early last year, Charter Spectrum was sued by New York State for selling broadband speeds the company knew it couldn't deliver. According to the original complaint (pdf), Charter routinely misled consumers, refused to seriously upgrade its networks, and manipulated a system the FCC used to determine whether the company was delivering advertised broadband speeds to the company's subscribers (it wasn't). Charter has tried to use the FCC's net neutrality repeal to claim that states can't hold it accountable for terrible service, but that hasn't been going particularly well.

Source: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180723/08030840291/new-york-state-threatens-to-revoke-charters-cable-franchise-bullshitting.shtml


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by ikanreed on Monday April 22 2019, @08:38PM (3 children)

    by ikanreed (3164) Subscriber Badge on Monday April 22 2019, @08:38PM (#833510) Journal

    Can we kick them out of existence instead?

    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday April 22 2019, @09:00PM (2 children)

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday April 22 2019, @09:00PM (#833517) Journal

      I would settle for banishing them to Barrow Alaska.

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
      • (Score: 2) by ikanreed on Monday April 22 2019, @09:03PM (1 child)

        by ikanreed (3164) Subscriber Badge on Monday April 22 2019, @09:03PM (#833518) Journal

        I'm just saying what we should charter, is a spaceship for their executives, aimed directly at the sun.

        • (Score: 4, Insightful) by DannyB on Monday April 22 2019, @09:46PM

          by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday April 22 2019, @09:46PM (#833537) Journal

          Charter would expand its network to provide high-speed broadband service to 145,000 residences and businesses entirely in Upstate New York; the network expansion would be completed by September 30, 2021

          I'm sure Charter will complete all of their commitments by the 2021 deadline. Just like Verizon and AT&T always keep their promises. Remember how Verizon was going to rebuild infrastructure after hurricane Somethingorother? Maybe Verizon just hasn't finished yet.

          --
          People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Thexalon on Monday April 22 2019, @11:19PM (3 children)

    by Thexalon (636) on Monday April 22 2019, @11:19PM (#833590)

    in exchange for further broadband expansions

    Somehow I won't be surprised if those "further broadband expansions" never actually come into existence. Also, it might be worth checking for unusual activity in the bank accounts of the members of the relevant state board or agency.

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 22 2019, @11:59PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 22 2019, @11:59PM (#833602)

      They offered us a "broadband expansion" -- double the speed we got from previous network owner Time Warner...but for a big jump in price. What we have now is OK, and Charter already raised the prices a bunch. At least for now they are the only game in our neighborhood, although Verizon FiOS is supposed to be available here later this year.

      It's making me look back on the Rigas family, the crooks that created this cable company under the original name Adelphia, with some slight fondness.

      • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday April 23 2019, @12:17AM (1 child)

        by Thexalon (636) on Tuesday April 23 2019, @12:17AM (#833606)

        It's making me look back on the Rigas family, the crooks that created this cable company under the original name Adelphia, with some slight fondness.

        So if I'm understanding you correctly, it's "Well, at least they were nice enough to use lubricant"?

        --
        The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 23 2019, @01:08AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 23 2019, @01:08AM (#833629)

          Yeah something like that. As I understand it, Rigas built the network as a private company, I've got to give him credit for actually making something (although he may have been a dirty dealer all along?) Then he took it public to cash out. But he and his kids kept treating the company as if they owned it and eventually they stole enough money (effectively from shareholders) and/or pissed off enough people, that they got caught.

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by stretch611 on Tuesday April 23 2019, @12:28AM (1 child)

    by stretch611 (6199) on Tuesday April 23 2019, @12:28AM (#833611)

    I would have figured a settlement deal would have included a net neutrality provision forcing charter to accept that in order to stay in the state.

    --
    Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
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