Albany, N.Y. -- The state Public Service Commission voted Friday to rescind its 2016 approval of Charter Communications' merger with Time Warner Cable, a move designed to force Charter's Spectrum cable service out of the state.

The commission said Charter has repeatedly failed to meet the terms of the commission's approval of its merger with Time Warner Cable - specifically, its obligation to expand its broadband internet service to unserved and underserved areas of the state.

"Charter's repeated failures to serve New Yorkers and honor its commitments are well documented and are only getting worse," Commission Chairman John Rhodes said in a statement. "After more than a year of administrative enforcement efforts to bring Charter into compliance with the commission's merger order, the time has come for stronger actions to protect New Yorkers and the public interest."

He said Chater's "non-compliance and brazenly disrespectful behavior toward New York State and its customers necessitates the actions taken today seeking court-ordered penalties for its failures, and revoking the Charter merger approval."

Charter spokesman Andrew Russell issued a statement saying the commission's action was politically motivated. Gov. Andrew Cuomo is up for re-election this year.

"In the weeks leading up to an election, rhetoric often becomes politically charged," Russell said. "But the fact is that Spectrum has extended the reach of our advanced broadband network to more than 86,000 New York homes and businesses since our merger agreement with the PSC. Our 11,000 diverse and locally based workers, who serve millions of customers in the state every day, remain focused on delivering faster and better broadband to more New Yorkers, as we promised."

The commission approved the Charter-Time Warner Cable merger on Jan. 8, 2016, with conditions that, among other things, required Charter to expand its high-speed internet service to an additional 145,000 unserved or underserved homes and businesses in the state's less densely populated areas within four years.

The order required Charter to meet certain build-out milestones in each of the four years. It says the company has failed to meet those milestones, despite Charter's repeated statements to the contrary.

"Rather than accept responsibility, Charter has tried to pass the blame for its failure on other companies, such as utility pole owners, which have processed tens of thousands of pole applications submitted by Charter," the commission said.

It directed the company to pay a $1 million fine to the state treasury for missing its June milestone, bringing the total amount of fines ordered by the commission against Charter to $3 million.

The commission also ordered Charter to file within 60 days a plan to "ensure an orderly transition to a successor" provider or providers. However, it's likely that Charter will file legal challenges to the commission's action, so it's unlikely that the company will be leaving the state anytime soon.

In the meantime, the commission said Charter must continue to comply with all local franchises it holds in the state and its other obligations under Public Service Law and the commission's regulations.

"Charter must ensure no interruption in service is experienced by customers, and, in the event that Charter does not do so, the commission will take further steps, including seeking injunctive relief in (state) Supreme Court in order to protect New York consumers," it said.

Charter is the largest cable provider in the state. It provides cable television, high-speed internet and telephone service to more than 2 million subscribers in New York in more than 1,150 communities.

The commission said the company has a potential customer base of 5 million households in its franchise areas. Those areas include the state's major metropolitan areas: Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany and the boroughs of Manhattan, Staten Island, Queens and parts of Brooklyn.

Editor's note: Advance/Newhouse Partnership, which has an ownership stake in Charter Communications Inc., is part of Advance Publications, owner of Advance Local. Advance Local owns Syracuse.com, NYUP.com and The Post-Standard.

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