Charter, Small Op Scrap in W. Va.
By Linda Haugsted -- Multichannel News, 11/21/2001 8:03:00 AM
The West Virginia Public Service Commission will hold a hearing to determine if the discounts offered by Charter Communications Inc. to attract customers away from a competitor in Parkersburg constitute discriminatory pricing.
The hearing is the result of a complaint filed almost one year ago by that competitor, Community Antenna Service Inc., a 4,500-subscriber cable system.
That company competes head-to-head with Charter for about 2,700 of those homes, according to office manager Lisa Wilkinson.
CAS operated unmolested for about 20 years outside the city limits of Parkersburg. But when it was awarded a franchise to enter the city to compete, Charter began offering customers superdiscounted packages.
Offers included $9.95 per month for six months for all of Charter's video offerings, including pay services, Wilkinson said. Other discounts were tied to one-year contracts.
CAS alleged that the discounts are discriminatory under state law, as they are not offered to city residents where Charter is the sole provider.
'We just want a level playing field,' Wilkinson said.
But Charter officials said the PSC proceeding was launched in retaliation for the civil suit the MSO filed against CAS one year ago.
The suit, filed in Wood County Circuit Court, challenged exclusivity agreements CAS signed with multiple-dwelling units.
The competitor got the agreements by offering free cable service in return for the 'landlord's or apartment manager's assistance in misrepresenting to tenants that they have no right of choice' in cable providers, according to PSC filings.
CAS also cut Charter plant, the MSO asserted in its civil suit.
That action violated the state's right-of-access statute, Charter vice president and senior counsel Linda Reisner said.
CAS filed a counterclaim focused on predatory pricing. The lower court did not grant Charter a judgment, and it is awaiting action by the state Supreme Court of Appeals.
The West Virginia Division of Administrative Law Judges will conduct the hearing. No date has been set yet, but the legal division must issue its recommended decision to the PSC by May 7.
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