TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Deal May Let Comcast Grow in State

Deal May Let Comcast Grow in State

Monty Solomon (monty@roscom.com)
Sun, 10 Apr 2005 23:29:59 -0400

Deal may let Comcast grow in state
Firm expected to try to join its franchises with those of Adelphia

By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff | April 9, 2005

An $18 billion bid for bankrupt Adelphia Communications Corp. by the
nation's two biggest cable companies will likely lead to Comcast
Corp. adding at least 26 more local cable franchises to the 212 it now
owns in Massachusetts, industry analysts said yesterday.

If they succeed in their bid for the nation's fifth-largest cable
company, which serves 5 million subscribers, Comcast and Time Warner
Inc. are likely to immediately execute a deal that trades Comcast's 21
percent stake in Time Warner -- a legacy of 1990s cable dealmaking --
back to Time Warner. In exchange, Comcast would get about 2 million
current Adelphia or Time Warner customers to add to its current 21
million.

As a way to maximize operating efficiencies and advertising reach,
Comcast is likely to focus heavily on expanding existing clusters of
cable franchises. Adelphia's local operations -- including Cape Ann,
the South Shore, and Martha's Vineyard -- would fit hand-in-glove with
Comcast's existing megacluster in Greater Boston and southern New
England, making their 124,000 customers almost certain candidates for
a swap.

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/04/09/deal_may_let_comcast_grow_in_state/

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