Time Warner Cable cuts broadband upgrades post merger

Time Warner Cable cuts broadband upgrades post merger

Time Warner Cable suspended its broadband upgrades immediately after its sale to Charter.

Time Warner Cable suspended its Maxx broadband and TV upgrades immediately after being bought by Charter, which also acquired Bright House Networks.

Time Warner Cable's Maxx upgrades not only delivered fast top speeds up to 300 Mbps but were a much-commented-on improvement to the company's original set-top box interface. However, Time Warner Cable has been informing its support staff and engineers that the upgrades were halted on May 26.

An internal memo obtained by pressure group Stop the Cap, implies Charter is taking inventory of the acquired companies before it commits to any long-term strategy. The memo said: "The Maxx Internet Speed Increase Program is currently undergoing review by our leadership team," said a memo.

"As a result, all speed increases and customer communications were placed on a temporary hold beginning Thursday, May 26," states the internal communication. "Once the updated launch schedule is determined, updated hub schedules will be posted to KEY and area management will be notified. Customers will continue to receive notification when the new speeds are available in their hubs."

Those users resident in Maxx upgrade markets have seen their 15 Mbps Standard connections boosted to 50 Mbps; their 30 Mbps Extreme connections pushed up to 200 Mbps, and the 50 Mbps Ultimate tier hiked to 300 Mbps. These upgrades have been implemented so far at no additional cost.

Charter streamlined its offerings in 2012, providing users the choice of two primary tiers: 30 and 100 Mbps. Those upgrades have seen slow deployment and are not expected to be fully completed in all of their markets until 2019.

The exception is New York State, where regulators made Charters offer 300 Mbps to all state customers immediately.

Charter has said that it will phase out the Time Warner Cable name, and market its products and services under the Spectrum brand. The cost of the acquisitions was $79million.




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