Time Warner Cable was in the middle of upgrading its Cincinnati cable and internet networks to provide better speeds and capabilities when it was acquired by Charter Communications. That's on hold now while Charter implements its own plans.
Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) announced in February that it's bringing its TWC Maxx all-digital network to Cincinnati. That means minimum internet speeds of 50 Megabits per second (Mbps) with a new maximum of 300 Mbps as well as new TV capabilities. Time Warner's previous maximum speed was 50 Mbps. The speed upgrade comes with no additional cost to customers.
That upgrade was nearly complete in Northern Kentucky and well underway in Cincinnati when Charter acquired Time Warner. At that time, Time Warner was going full speed ahead with the digital upgrade. But Charter Chief Financial Officer Christopher Winfrey told investors on a second quarter earnings call that the Maxx rollout will be frozen.
"There is, obviously, the significant amount of all-digital activity that was continuing at TWC,” Winfrey said in an earnings call with analysts. “And that will be largely put on hold as we put in the Charter all-digital strategy the beginning of next year.”
Cincinnatians may not have to wait quite that long. Local Charter spokesman Mike Pedelty told me Charter's Spectrum-branded offerings will be rolled out "in the coming months" but that a timeline was still being worked out.
Spectrum includes a cable TV video offering with high definition programs and On Demand options, a home telephone product and broadband internet with speeds starting at 60 megabits per second (Mbps).
Additional information on what Spectrum will look like in Cincinnati wasn't provided, but I'll try to break it down based on information from Charter's website.
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