Charter Communications
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Charter Communications, Inc. | |
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| Type | Public NASDAQ: CHTR |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1993 |
| Headquarters | St. Louis, MO |
| Key people | Neil Smit, CEO Wayne H. Davis, Executive VP and CTO Michael J. Lovett, Executive VP and COO Robert Quigley, Executive VP and CMO |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Products | cable television, HDTV, cable telephone, broadband |
| Revenue |  $5.254 Billion USD (2005) |
| Net income |  -$970. Million USD (2005) |
| Employees | 17,200 (2005) |
| Website | www.charter.com |
Charter Communications NASDAQ: CHTR is an American company providing cable television, HDTV, cable telephone, DVR, and broadband services over 6.2 million subscribers in 40 states in the United States. It is #3 in the cable television market behind Comcast and Time Warner Cable.
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[edit] History
After being founded in 1993, a series of acquisitions as well as organic growth allowed its subscriber base to reach 1 million customers in 1998, 3.9 million in 1999, and 6.8 million in 2002 (2.3 million of which were digital cable service subscribers and nearly 750,000 broadband Internet service subscribers).
The company was involved in an accounting fraud in 2000/2001 (relating to the inflation of revenue and operating cash flow and cable subscriber numbers) for which four former executives were convicted in 2005. The company had been under financial pressure following a series of acquisitions; its stock peaked at $27.75 per share in November 1999, before falling to under $1 in 2002.[1]
On March 22, 2006, Charter announced that it will sell cable systems serving approximately 43,000 customers in Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah to Orange Broadband Holding Company.
Charter will also sell cable systems in West Virginia and Virginia to Cebridge Connections (now known as Suddenlink Communications) and cable systems in Kentucky and Illinois to New Wave Communications. [2]
In 2006, Charter began selling telephone services using Broadband Telephony technology (or VoIP). The voice and sound data are digitally transmitted in packets and then translated at the CMTS (Cable Modem Termination System) or headend onto a voice switch which then gets routed to its appropriate destination. To the end user there is no difference in how they use their home phone vs. service offered by their regional Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier (ILEC) ie., AT&T, Verizon, Qwest. The service is even acceptable for use with people with home security systems or medical alert systems. [3]
[edit] Timeline
- 1993 The company was started by three executives, two of them are Jerald Kent and Howard Wood, former employees of Cencom Cable Television in St. Louis
- 1994 Charter paid about $900 million for a controlling interest in Crown Media
- 1997 EarthLink and Charter join forces to deliver high-speed Internet access through cable modems to Charter's customers in California.
- 1998 Paul Allen buys a controlling interest
- 1998 Charter paid $2.8 billion to acquire Dallas cable company Marcus Communications
- 1998 the SEC investigates a buying binge by the company which leads to the indictment of four former executives for improper financial reporting
- 1999 Company goes public, trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange
- 2000 Charter Buys select AT&T cable markets, including Reno, NV
- 2001 MSN and Charter sign an agreement to offer MSN content and services to Charter’s broadband customers.
- 2001 Recipient of many awards including the Outstanding Corporate Growth Award from the Association for Corporate Growth, the R.E. "Ted" Turner Innovator of the Year Award from the Southern Cable Telecommunications Association, and the Fast 50 Award for Growth from the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association
- 2004 Charter settles a class action lawsuit concerning the questionable financial reporting
- 2005 Company joins HANA, the High Definition Audio-Video Network Alliance to help establish standards in consumer electronics interoperability
[edit] Outsourcing
On May 2, 2006, Charter announced it will shut down seven of its call centers in the U.S.. The call centers closing are in the following locations:
- St. Louis, Missouri Video Customer Care Center (closed July 31, 2006)
- Bay City, Michigan (tentatively September 2006)
- Birmingham, Alabama (tentatively December 2006)
- Ft. Worth, Texas (December 1, 2006)
- Irwindale, California (tentatively December 2006) (CLOSED)
- Newtown, Connecticut (tentatively March 2007)
- Kingsport, Tennessee (tentatively March 2007)
As centers close, an increasing number of calls are being outsourced. Current outsource centers are located in Cainta, Philippines; Panama City, Panama; Mexico City, Mexico; Laredo, Texas; London, Ontario; Amherst, Nova Scotia; Winnipeg, Manitoba; and Brasília, Brazil. More outsource options are being explored.
Charter call centers which are currently not scheduled to close are located in Greenville, South Carolina, St. Louis, Missouri (telephone service support center), Vancouver, Washington, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, Walker, Michigan, Rochester, Minnesota, Worcester, Massachusetts and Louisville, Kentucky. Each of the remaining centers are becoming increasingly specialized for particular lines of service or customer issues.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Charter.com - Charter Communications
- Chartercom.com - Internal Charter Communications
- Charter.net - For Charter High-Speed customers
- Charterphone.com - For Charter Telephone customers
- Support.Charter.com - For basic questions concerning charter services
- Associated Press, April 23, 2005, "Charter Communications executives sentenced in accounting schemes"
[edit] Corporate Contact
- Corporate Office Main Switchboard: (314) 965-0555
- Marketing/Engineering/Public Relations/Office Management: (314) 965-5761
- Corporate Development: (314) 909-0801
- Finance/Acquisitions/Budgets/Regulatory: (314) 965-6492
- Legal/Government Relations: (314) 965-6640
- M.I.S: (314) 965-9491
- Executive: (314) 965-8793
- Account/Inventory: (314) 909-0675
- Treasury: (314) 965-0571
- Human Resources/Payroll: FAX# (314) 965-9745
