Charter buyout of Time Warner won't have immediate effect locally

Charter Communications' acquisition of Time Warner Cable will not have an immediate effect on Cape Girardeau or other Southeast Missouri customers, a Charter spokesman said Friday.

"We'll continue to provide them services and customer support," Wes Shirley, Charter's senior manager of communications, said in an email.

Charter announced last week it is buying Time Warner Cable for $55.33 billion. The company also announced it is buying Bright House Networks, a smaller cable provider, for $10.4 billion.

"We believe in time we will be able to leverage the synergies and the strengths of the various companies to accelerate the deployment of new innovation and technical advancements, and that's very exciting for our customers," Shirley said.

The Associated Press reported a wave in consolidation in the cable industry as providers are starting to lose TV subscribers, costs for TV sports and movies continue to rise and pressure mounts from online video services such as Netflix and Hulu.

When asked whether the purchase would affect local employment, Shirley said the company has grown its workforce in Missouri over the past few years, bringing hundreds of new jobs to the state.

"Nationally, Charter has added 7,000 jobs since 2012, mostly in customer service-related positions, but also positions in accounting/finance, IT and engineering," he said.

Charter CEO Tom Rutledge said in a statement: "With our larger reach, we will be able to accelerate the deployment of faster Internet speeds, state-of-the-art video experience and fully featured voice products at highly competitive prices.

"In addition, we will drive greater competition through further deployment of new competitive facilities-based Wi-Fi networks in public places and the expansion of the facilities footprint of optical networks to serve the large, small and medium-sized business services marketplace."

klamb@semissourian.com

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