New Jersey Okays Charter-TWC

Charter has gotten the OK from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to merge with Time Warner Cable, provided it spends on customer service, maintains open Internet protections and has no data caps for at least three years. That approval isn't quite as important as the same call from the Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice, but it is a step in the right direction for Charter. The approval came with a price: The approval contains more than a half-dozen conditions, including spending at least three quarters of a million dollars on customer service improvements, and notice and explanations of any cuts of more than 15% of the New Jersey workforce. Other conditions are:

• Charter to offer a Low-Income Broadband Program within 15 months that provides service at $14.99 a month, including a modem, at speeds of 30 Mps download/4 Mbps upload for households with children eligible for the National School Lunch Program or Seniors 65 or older eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
• The continuation of Time Warner Cable’s Everyday Low Price $14.99 Broadband Service to existing customers for 3 years and new Charter customers for a period 2 years
• Charter is to continue to offer Time Warner Cable’s Maxx Broadband offering with speeds up to 300 Mbps for 3 years
• Charter will continue its practice of no data caps and providing Open Internet Protection per FCC requirements for 3 years
• Charter to take on the liability of Time Warner Cable for pending 2003 rate appeals pending before the Federal Communications Commission
• As part of the approval, Time Warner Cable agreed to pay $300,000 to settle any outstanding alleged violations of board "Orders, Statutes, and Regulations.