New York State Regulators Approve Altice's Acquisition Of Cablevision

(RTTNews) - The New York State Public Service Commission approved Altice NV's (ATCV.OB) acquisition of Cablevision Systems Corp. (CVC) with public interest conditions that the Commission estimates will provide $243 million in benefits to New York consumers to upgrade the broadband infrastructure, create a new low-income broadband program, build out its network in unserved areas, and provide some $40 million of additional benefits associated with Cablevision's participation in a new federal broadband affordability program.

With the decision, Altice will triple the speed of its network to 300 Mbps by the end of 2017, increase high-speed broadband access in rural and urban communities in its service territory, provide new low-income broadband offerings and deliver free broadband Internet access to 40 anchor institutions in unserved or underserved areas.

The company will also introduce new technology to serve its nearly 2 million customers more thoroughly and efficiently, and provide a robust storm-resiliency initiative for Long Island and the rest of its service territory. Importantly, the company will also maintain a strong customer-service workforce by committing to no layoffs for four years.

Last month, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission approved European telecommunications group Altice's acquisition of U.S. telecommunications and media company Cablevision Systems Corp.

In September 2015, Altice said it agreed to buy Cablevision Systems Corp. for $34.90 per share in an all-cash deal valued about $17.7 billion, including debt.