Syracuse, N.Y. -- An Upstate New York consumer group says the Public Service Commission’s closed-door talks with Spectrum are giving the public no say in a possible deal allowing the cable giant to stay in the state.

“The public deserves to have more input,” said Phillip Dampier, president of Stop the Cap!, a Rochester-based group he founded in 2008 to promote better broadband and fight data caps imposed by internet service providers.

The commission voted in July to boot Charter Communications, which does business as Spectrum, out of the state for not complying with its obligations to extend broadband internet service to the state’s rural areas, mostly in Upstate New York. The commission made the network expansion requirement a condition of its 2016 approval of Charter’s acquisition of Time Warner Cable’s franchises in the state.

But since the order, the commission’s staff has engaged in negotiations with Spectrum on a deal that would allow the company to stay in New York.

“While we have no objection to the commission’s actions seeking Charter’s compliance with it merger obligations, we remain concerned that these ongoing negotiations have remained secret for over half a year, with little ability for public interest groups, consumers and others to provide informed input in those discussions or track their progress,” Dampier said in a letter to the commission.

“We believe it is long past time for the commission to publicly disclose the nature of the ongoing negotiations, specific details about the progress that has been made, and the ultimate goal of these discussion,” he added.

He said he suspects the deal that is being discussed will require Spectrum to come into compliance with its build-out requirements and to pay a fine “that’s just going to get lost in Albany’s flush toilets.”

Any deal should also require the company to expand the build-out beyond what was previously required, he said. For example, Spectrum could be required to assist at least some of the 75,000 homes that are being offered “substandard” satellite internet access because no provider bid for state grants to provide wired broadband in the last round of the New NY Broadband Program, he said.

“They should have to wire more homes, especially for people who are just beyond the reach of cable,” said Dampier. “We’re not talking about some cabin in the woods.”

James Denn, a spokesman for the commission, said the commission and its staff have informed the public about the ongoing negotiations with Charter “every step of the way, within the bounds of the law.”

“In its last order extending the negotiation deadlines, the commission said any settlement must include an expansion of broadband access beyond what was initially required and a schedule to complete the remaining build-out,” he said. “At the end of the day, the commission will hold Charter accountable for failing to live up to its commitments to New Yorkers, be it in a settlement agreement or a court room.”

Denn said because the matter involves ongoing litigation, details of the settlement talks must remain confidential and “negotiating in public could lead to an adverse outcome for consumers or even further legal claims by Charter that could jeopardize the aggressive actions that that PSC has already taken to protect consumers from corporate abuses.”

He said any settlement will be issued for public comment before final action by the commission.

Dampier said the commission has made only general statements about the negotiations. He said Spectrum’s compliance reports on its network build-out are heavily redacted, “leaving the public and lawmakers in the dark” about the talks and the company’s progress in meeting its obligations.

Charter declined through a spokesperson to comment.

The company has maintained that it is complying with the commission’s build-out requirements, when new customer hookups in New York City are counted. It says the wording of the merger agreement does not specifically require that its build-out be in rural areas.

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