Spectrum Internet Service
Charter Communications® has unveiled that the company has expanded their network in NYC recently to around five hundred underserved and unserved areas in Rome, Kirkland, and Utica. The expansion has been continuing since FCC and New York Public Service Commission granted the Time Warner Cable® and Charter Communications® merger last year. Charter® offers to customers in Central New York region internet, cable TV, and voice services.
The recent build out from the Telco will serve select locations of Oneida County in NYC, but some residents still need accesses to best internet service from an ISP. Reports indicate that a Deerfield resident named Graham Espe attempted to contact Charter Spectrum® to get internet for his home. Charter Communications® told Graham Espe regarding a grant program, which the Telco told him they would not partake in, and that it will be his choice to file for. The resident living in Roberts Road understands that the grant program is not open to all people.
“The way it was explained to me when I emailed the New York State Broadband Program Office back in early 2017 was that providing service to rural areas of Oneida County was a specific requirement to allow the merger of Time Warner®/Charter®/Spectrum® via the grant program,” said Graham Espe. “My take on it is that they lobbied to have the wording such that it seemed like a requirement to the public to get around anti-monopoly laws to get the merger approved, but in reality it was still a choice whether they opted to take advantage of the grants. So there was never any legal obligation on Spectrum’s part to actually follow through with providing new service to underserved areas.”
High Speed Internet
Charter® has informed New York Public Service Commission that the network in over 42000 unserved areas has upgraded following last year’s merger with Time Warner Cable®. The expansion met the interim target of the Commission from the Telco, which was to expand the network in over 36000 underserved areas of NYC by December 2017. By May 2020, Charter Communications® will have to build out the network in up to 145000 locations in the state.
“We are on track to extend our advanced broadband network to 145,000 unserved and underserved homes and businesses across New York, including to additional locations in Oneida County by May 2020,” said Andrew Russell, the director of communications at Charter Communications® for the Northeast area.
