Suddenlink Logo This file is a candidate for speedy deletion. It may be deleted after Thursday, 12 January 2012. |
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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | 2003 (as Cebridge Connections) 2006 (as Suddenlink) |
| Headquarters | St. Louis, MO |
| Key people |
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| Products | Digital Cable Video On Demand High-Definition TV High-Speed Internet Digital Phone Suddenlink Media Cable Advertising Network West Virginia Local WV station Security |
| Revenue | $1.69 Billion USD (2010) |
| Parent | Cequel Communications, LLC. |
| Website |
suddenlink.com |
Suddenlink Communications, formerly Cebridge Connections[1], is a top-10 cable broadband services provider in the United States with approximately 1.4 million subscribers. Suddenlink operates in 18 states in primarily medium-sized communities. With its corporate headquarters in St. Louis, MO, Suddenlink is part of Cequel Communications, LLC. Cequel III, a separate privately-owned company, was founded in January 2002 by Jerry Kent, Howard Wood, and Dan Bergstein as an investment and management firm that focuses on development of cable and telecommunications companies. Cequel III maintains a contract with Suddenlink for the provision of certain management services.
Contents |
Suddenlink traces its origins to February 2003, when its senior management team assumed responsibility for the post-bankruptcy assets of Classic Communications, which served remote suburban areas, smaller towns, and rural communities. [2] At the time Classic was the twelfth largest MSO with 325,000 customers in nine states (Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Colorado, and Ohio). Classic’s customers had been largely deprived of advanced services like high-speed Internet access.[3] The new management team claims to have invested tens of millions of dollars to upgrade Classic systems and improve the quality and quantity of services they offered.
The company was re-named Cebridge Connections and continued to acquire new cable companies and new cable systems.[4] As Cebridge, the company acquired cable systems previously owned by Alliance, Tele-Media, Thompson and USA Media. In 2006, Cebridge became Suddenlink Communications after the deals to acquire cable systems from Cox Communications and Charter Communications closed.[4]
Between 2006 and 2007, the company constructed a national backbone unique to cable operators of Suddenlink’s size. This backbone was engineered to support inter-office voice and data communications; customer call traffic; a centralized softswitch for rapid phone deployment; and centralized video-on-demand servers and content management tools. Subsequently, this backbone aided the company's 12- to 15-month expansion of a competitive phone service to new areas.[5] As a result, by August 2009, the company counted more than 250,000 active phone lines serving residential and business customers, up from 30,000 in early 2007.[6]
The company has also undertaken regional projects, such as its construction in West Texas of a 957-mile (1,540 km) fiber ring connecting its major markets in that part of the country, including Amarillo, Abilene, Midland, Lubbock, and San Angelo. This project supported the regional deployment of advanced services, including faster Internet download and upload speeds and video on demand.[7]
On Nov. 5, 2009, Suddenlink announced the completion of a $600 million debt offering.[8] Suddenlink said that offering and a related bank amendment would facilitate an approximately $350 million capital investment plan through 2012, above and beyond the company’s traditional capital spending levels. According to company officials, this investment plan, dubbed “Project Imagine,” was primarily designed to increase the number of high-definition (HD) channels to 90 on average, with the capability to offer up to 200; and expand the general availability of HD service, video-on-demand, and DOCSIS 3.0 technology to substantially all Suddenlink customers.[9] (DOCSIS 3.0 technology enables Internet speeds of up to 20, 50, and 100 megabits per second or faster.) By September 30, 2011, Project Imagine investments had increased the average number of high-definition (HD) TV channels from 24 to 72, with several lineups featuring 90 or more; made video on demand (VOD) service available to more than 82 percent of customers and DOCSIS 3.0 technology available to 84 percent of customers. [10] Project Imagine investments will continue through 2012.
In March 2010 Suddenlink began offering residential customers in several, suburban-Austin communities High Speed Internet MAX 107.0 service, featuring a download speed up to 107 megabits per second (Mbps) and an upload speed up to 5 Mbps.[11] Cable Digital News confirmed the service was, at that time, “the fastest cable wideband tier in the U.S., in terms of downstream speeds.” In the following months, MAX 107.0 was launched in the Tyler, Texas, area[12] and several W. Va. communities.[13]
In July 2010, the company jointly announced with the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) that all broadband technicians and installers with Suddenlink for at least 90 days had attained one or more professional certifications from SCTE. Suddenlink was the first major cable operator to reach this milestone.[14]
That same month, Suddenlink and TiVo announced a collaboration in which Suddenlink would distribute co-branded TiVo Premiere DVRs. The TiVo Premiere combines Suddenlink’s service with TiVo's best-in-class user interface to offer access to thousands of hours of entertainment choices, including content from Suddenlink’s video-on-demand (VOD) library and the Web, all accessible through TiVo's advanced search and discovery features.[15] In December 2010, the co-branded DVRs launched in Lubbock and Midland, Texas.[16] In early 2011, the devices were rolled out in 5 more Texas cities and Clovis, N.M.
In April 2011, Suddenlink began offering HBO GO® and MAX GO®, authenticated online video destinations for HBO and Cinemax programming. In June, the company launched Suddenlink2GO,[17] an online video service that allows subscribers to access select TV, movie and shorter video content with a single interface, from any computer with a high-speed Internet connection. Suddenlink2GO was developed in partnership with Synacor.
The following month, July 2011, Suddenlink was one of six partner companies mentioned in CNN’s announcement about live-streaming CNN and HLN on iPhones, iPads, and iPods.[18] Also in July, the TiVo App for iPad and iPhone, which allows customers to view TV programming, schedule program recordings, and post Facebook and Twitter updates, was made available to those using TiVo Premiere DVRs from Suddenlink.[19]