Joseph Spector and Jon Campbell, Albany Bureau
ALBANY — Charter Communications on Thursday said it will halt ads that tout its expansion of broadband services amid state efforts to force them to exit New York.
Last week, the state Public Service Commission said it would give Charter Spectrum 60 days to complete a plan to get out of New York and sell its franchise to another company.
That came after the commission in June ordered Charter to cease running ads that promote its expansion of internet services.
The commission also referred the ads for review by the state Attorney General's Office and the Securities and Exchange Commission, calling it a "misleading campaign."
"In an effort to help bring about a resolution of outstanding disputed matters with the Public Service Commission of New York, Charter will halt airing certain advertising," the company, based in Stamford, Conn., said in a statement.
"We look forward to resolving all matters currently disputed with the PSC in the not too distant future."
The company declined further comment.
The move by the Charter comes amid tension with the state.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been criticizing the company for its slow rollout of broadband services, and he has fought with the company over its impasse with its union.
Cuomo, a Democrat seeking a third term, has also turned the fight onto a reporter from NY1, which is owned by Charter.
"Charter Spectrum is running ads that says we are ahead of schedule and at no cost to the taxpayer," Cuomo said Tuesday.
"The Public Service Commission asked the attorney general to investigate those ads because they're fraudulent and you know they're fraudulent. You know the Public Service Commission said they're behind schedule, not on schedule, and certainly not ahead of schedule.
"And to say it's no cost to the taxpayers is also a fraud, because that's the condition upon which the taxpayers gave you the franchise. So you are defrauding the people of this state. That's a fraud."
In June, the Public Service Commission sent a letter to Charter CEO Thomas Rutledge that alleges the company has failed to meet its goals to add high-speed internet to underserved parts of New York.
“Not only has the company failed to meet its obligations to build out its cable system as required, it is now making patently false and misleading claims to consumers that it has met those obligations," John Rhodes, the PSC chairman, said in a statement.
Spectrum has disputed the state's assertions — which is that Charter, which acquired Time Warner Cable in 2016, has not fulfilled its obligations under the state's approval of the acquisition.
At the time, Charter disputed that its ads were inaccurate and said Spectrum has "built out our broadband network to more than 42,000 unserved or underserved homes since the merger."
Earlier in June, the PSC ordered Charter to pay a $2 million fine for not building out its cable network as scheduled.
Now that case is in court, and Charter is also expected to fight the state's efforts to shut it down in New York.
