Altice Closes on Cablevision Acquisition
Altice completed its $17.7 billion takeover of Cablevision, it said in a news release Tuesday. Altice said, with Cablevision and Suddenlink under its belt, Altice USA is the No. 4 U.S. cable operator, with 4.6 million customers in 20 states.…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
The New York Public Service Commission approved the deal last week (see 1606150056). Altice founder Patrick Drahi said Altice USA "is a key pillar of our business" and the next step is to "accelerate network investments and bring innovative products and services to U.S. customers by leveraging our global operational expertise, scale and resources." It said goals for Altice USA include increased broadband speeds through network upgrades; introduction of a low-income broadband offering; rollout of an all-in-one home center that puts set-top boxes, routers and Wi-Fi modems in one device and debut of a new customer interface that integrates VOD, online content and improved navigation and recommendation tools. Company president Dexter Goei will be chairman and CEO of Altice USA, with co-President/Chief Financial Officer Charles Stewart and co-President/Chief Operating Officer Hakim Boubazine, Lisa Rosenblum as general counsel and Lee Schroeder as head-government affairs. Separately, Zoom Telephonics Monday filed a reply to Altice/Cablevision opposition (see 1606140015) to the Zoom petition for reconsideration of FCC approval of that deal. In its reply in docket 15-257, Zoom said Altice/Cablevision argued there was ample time through the ex parte process to bring its arguments to the agency, but Zoom said the FCC put a Dec. 7 deadline on submission of pleadings and that it had been in talks with the applicants on trying to resolve the cable modem practices but those talks ended in April when Altice/Cablevision for the first time said they believed they were in compliance with FCC rules and wouldn't make any changes. "Since this was just a few days before the staff issued its decision, it would not have been possible to prepare and file anything with the Commission in time for it to have been considered," Zoom said. It petitioned the FCC to reconsider its approval of Charter Communications buy of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks (see 1606100043). In its opposition to the petition filed Monday in docket 15-149, Charter said the Zoom complaint reargues complaints about modem billing policies that already were rejected by the FCC in its approval of the deals.