NJ Approval of Charter/TWC Hinged on Low-Income Program, Continued Investment
Implementation of a low-income broadband program and continued low-price offerings to existing and new customers are among conditions the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities imposed on Charter Communications as the BPU approved the company’s purchase of Time Warner Cable…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
Wednesday (see 1602240068). Charter must also continue to offer TWC’s Maxx Broadband with speeds up to 300 Mbps for three years, the BPU said. The company is being asked to invest a minimum of $750,000 in customer service improvements and to continue offering TWC’s $14.99 broadband service to existing customers for three years and new Charter customers for a period two years, the conditions said. Charter will also have to offer a low-income broadband program within 15 months that provides service at $14.99 a month, including a modem, at speeds of 30 Mbps download/4 Mbps upload for households with children eligible for the National School Lunch Program or seniors 65 or older eligible for Supplemental Security Income, the BPU said. Charter will also be required to continue its practice of no data caps and providing Open Internet Protection per FCC requirements for three years; take on the liability of TWC for pending 2003 rate appeals pending before the FCC; and notify and provide an explanation to the BPU if the company experiences employee loss of greater than 15 percent in New Jersey, the board said. “The Board is satisfied that its approval of this merger will afford customers with improved customer service and access to increased broadband speeds,” said President Richard Mroz, BPU, in a release about the decision. “We are happy that as a result of the merger the company will establish a low-income broadband program for households with school-age children and seniors, while also protecting current Time Warner Cable employees and maintaining its local office.” Charter said it was grateful to the BPU for its approval of the transaction, in a news release Wednesday. "The New Jersey BPU approval is another important step towards closing our transactions. We are very pleased with the confidence in our company and our commitments to our future customers demonstrated by the actions taken today,” said Adam Falk, senior vice president-state government affairs. Garden State approval follows New York Public Service Commission approval in January of Charter's purchases of TWC and Bright House Networks (see 1601270028) and leaves California and Hawaii yet to give regulatory approval. The California Public Utilities Commission's decision is expected by May 12 (see 1602120055). The New York City Office of the Mayor also sent a letter that is in docket 15-149 to the FCC urging the commission to require Charter to invest in its network enough to maintain a state-of-the-art system so the deals can benefit the public interest.