Charter Communications and AT&T BIS Announce Intent To Exchange Cable Systems To Create Regional 'Super Clusters'
December 1, 1999 05:13 PM
ST. LOUIS, Mo. and ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Dec. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Charter Communications CHTR and AT&T Broadband & Internet Services (AT&T BIS) announced today that they have signed a letter of intent to trade certain cable systems to create more efficient cable operations and speed the delivery of broadband technology and services to more consumers.
When the transaction is completed, Charter will take over the ownership of AT&T BIS cable systems serving approximately 704,000 customers in the St. Louis metropolitan area and additional communities in Missouri, Illinois, Alabama and Georgia.
AT&T BIS will assume ownership of select Charter cable systems serving approximately 632,000 customers, and will receive an undisclosed amount of cash. The systems AT&T BIS will be receiving are in Fort Worth, Texas, as well as select communities in Massachusetts, Connecticut, California, Tennessee and Kentucky.
"Charter's strategy for growth from the beginning has been to geographically cluster our cable systems to gain operating efficiencies and economies of scale," said Jerald L. Kent, president and CEO of Charter Communications. "Operating regional clusters -- like the 800,000-customer cluster we will serve in Missouri and Illinois, which includes some 500,000 customers in metro St. Louis -- helps us accelerate technology at even greater speeds. We are upgrading our cable infrastructure to offer customers digital cable television, high speed Internet and to build in the capacity for full broadband portal services."
"We are pleased to announce this agreement that will enhance the major markets of both companies," said Derek Chang, Executive Vice President of Corporate Development for AT&T BIS. "This exchange exemplifies the continuation of our strategy to cluster our major markets wherever possible as we strive to offer customers a wider range of ever-advancing products and services under the AT&T brand."
The proposed swap between Charter and AT&T BIS is subject to completion of definitive documentation and must receive all required regulatory approvals prior to the actual closing of the agreement. These approvals are expected to take several months. Until that time, all properties included in the swap will continue operating under their current management. Further details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Charter Communications is a Wired World(TM) company offering a full range of traditional cable television services. The company has also begun to offer services including digital cable television, high-speed Internet access and paging and is introducing interactive video programming. All of these services are important steps toward the realization of the Wired World vision where cable's ability to transmit voice, video and data at high speeds will enable it to serve as the primary platform for the delivery of new services to the home and workplace. Charter is the fourth largest operator of cable television systems in the United States, serving approximately 6.2 million customers, after giving effect to a pending acquisition. The chairman of Charter Communications is Paul G. Allen. Jerald L. Kent is the company's president and CEO. More information about Charter can be accessed on the Internet at www.chartercom.com.
AT&T Broadband & Internet Services is one of the nation's leading providers of video and broadband data services. Formerly known as Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI) prior to the Company's recent merger with AT&T, AT&T Broadband & Internet Services is a business unit of AT&T that provides cable television entertainment and information programming services to more than 10 million customers across the country. The Company also provides a host of advanced services through AT&T Digital Cable offerings and its high-speed cable Internet service AT&T@Home, and is actively developing competitive local cable telephone services. AT&T Broadband & Internet Services is part of AT&T Corp. T , the world's leader in telecommunications services and technology.
SOURCE AT&T Broadband & Internet Services
|
