The New York State Public Service Commission is scheduled to approve the sale of Altice to Cablevision — with conditions — in mid June.
The decision had been delayed from May, but does follow approval of the FCC and other entities.
The conditions New York State seeks are intended to ensure the sale adheres to public interest standards. The Fair Media Council has filed final comments with the state seeking, among other things, transparency and clarity within the promised conditions, as well as offering a comprehensive point-of-view of what Long Island, in particular, needs in order for this sale to prove successful.
Concerns regarding Altice’s history of massive layoffs, diminished customer service and higher rates at its home base in Europe is where this story began. Initially, Altice sought to eliminate $900 million in expense within the first eight months of owning Cablevision. That number has now been cut to $450 million. Still, the history and emphasis on cost cutting is at odds with the type of innovation needed not only within the highly disruptive telcom industry, but what Long Island must demand for its future.
The Island’s communications infrastructure is dominated by the Cablevision system. That means there is no growth to be had in its current offerings, and an aging infrastructure must be dealt with — a hard task for a company like Altice, which carries an enormous debt load. Further, what has been overlooked in the sale at large is the future of Long Island’s mainstream news — both News12 and Newsday. The issue here isn’t simply about the daily supply of information to the nearly 3 million residents of Long Island; it’s also vital to the health and well being of a public living on an Island susceptible to major weather events that have, in recent years, shown a strong need for news and information dissemination in times of emergencies.
These concerns, and others, were contained within FMC’s filing to the PSC. We hope it will give the Commission an enlightened look within how this sale impacts Long Island — much moreso than other other area within Cablevision’s footprint — and the future of the region.