Charter Spectrum: The latest on NY's efforts to kick out cable company

Joseph Spector | Albany Bureau

Show Caption Hide Caption Charter Spectrum, New York locked in bitter feud Charter Spectrum and New York regulators are locked in a bitter feud over broadband expansion and whether the company can continue to operate in the state.

ALBANY - Maybe New York and Charter Communications are hitting the pause button on their bitter, high-stakes fight.

The state Public Service Commission agreed late Monday to give the embattled cable company another two weeks to submit a plan to exit the state amid claims it has not expanded high-speed internet at a fast enough pace.

The plan had previously been due Sept. 25. The state agency agreed to Charter's request to push that date back to Oct. 9.

"We are pleased that the PSC has extended this deadline so Charter can preserve its legal rights while we continue discussions," the company said in a statement.

The comments from both sides suggest they may have toned down the verbal barbs and could look toward some type of settlement rather than forcing Charter to leave the state.

"Granting a short extension would allow time for discussions between Charter and the Department before the initiation by Charter of additional Commission or court proceedings," Charter wrote to the commission.

The commission approved the extension, calling it a "fair, orderly and efficient" way to proceed.

On Aug. 1, Charter agreed to take down ads the state called misleading about Charter's internet expansion in New York and signaled it was hoping for a compromise.

"We look forward to resolving all matters currently disputed with the PSC in the not too distant future," Charter said after pulling the ads.

And Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for Gov. Andrew Cuomo, called the decision to end the ads "a positive step" for Charter. Cuomo has been a vocal participant in the dispute with Charter.

The Public Service Commission voted last month to rescind its approval of the 2016 merger between Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable, saying it didn't meet its goals to expand internet services to underprivileged areas of the state.

And the state gave the Stamford, Connecticut-based company 60 days to develop a proposal to turn over its operations with more than 2 million New York customers to another provider.

Meanwhile, Cuomo has ripped the company on several fronts.

He has railed against it over the internet expansion and battled over the company's labor fight with IBEW Local No. 3, which represents about 1,800 workers in the New York City area and has been on strike for more than a year.

He has also taken his frustration out on NY1, the cable-news provider in New York City.

Charter CEO Thomas Rutledge vowed to sue if New York continues to try to push it out of the state, disagreeing with the state's assertion that the internet expansion has been slow.

But he also told analysts earlier this month that he hopes an agreement with the PSC can be reached.

"We do have labor issues in New York City, which we believe have politicized the actions of the PSC, and so we're concerned about that," Rutledge said.

"We've successfully negotiated other agreements with the same union, IBEW, in other parts of the country during this period. So we're hopeful that we can work all this out, but if necessary, we'll litigate and we believe we're in the right."

JSPECTOR@Gannett.com

Joseph Spector is chief of USA TODAY Network's Albany Bureau.

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