Faster Broadband
Charter Chief Executive Officer Tom Rutledge, who will become head of the combined company, said the deal would provide several consumer benefits. Charter’s broadband speeds are “considerably faster and less expensive” than Time Warner Cable’s, he said. And the combined company will include more Wi-Fi hot spots that could be used to someday introduce a mobile phone service. In addition, Charter has no plans to limit how much data subscribers use online, Rutledge said, something that Time Warner Cable and Comcast have experimented with.
“Our new company will drive significant investments into America’s broadband infrastructure, delivering faster broadband speeds, better video products, and more competition and innovation into the marketplace,” Rutledge said Tuesday during a conference call.
Charter’s customer-satisfaction scores “are headed in the right direction,” said spokesman Alex Dudley. Charter has added 7,000 new customer-service representatives since 2012 and plans to bring back Time Warner Cable’s customer-service jobs that are currently handled overseas. Charter doesn’t charge fees for leasing modems, offers fewer tiers of service that are less confusing for customers, and plans to integrate video content from online services like Netflix into its cable-TV service, he said.
The bigger company would also have more negotiating power with TV programmers, which in turn could keep cable-TV prices from rising for consumers.
Another plus for Time Warner Cable subscribers: Charter is “much more transparent with customer bills,” according to Amy Yong, an analyst at Macquarie Group Ltd. Time Warner Cable has relied heavily on discounted pricing to attract new subscribers, then increased their bills after the first year, she said. Charter “takes the long-term view” and doesn’t offer as much promotional pricing, meaning customer bills stay about the same, Yong said.