Page 2 July 7, 2016 When We Needed It Most, the World Came to Orlando’s Aid Charter Reveals Plans for Time-Warner Customers By Rob McCarthy The telecom carousel continues as Time-Warner Cable was sold to Charter Communications, leaving 1.2 million Southern California customers wondering how the transition will affect their TV, high-speed Internet and phone services and Dodgers baseball. Time-Warner turned over its operations and cable and fiber-optic systems on May 18 to the much-larger Charter, which will now service the airport and South Bay communities. Charter says it won’t be re-branding its trucks or equipment or making programming changes just yet, but changes are coming. Time-Warner customers “won’t see any immediate changes,” Charter spokesman Justin Venech told the Herald. “The branding on the bill, current services, and channel lineups will stay the same.” Charter will phase in programming changes “in the coming months,” Venech said, without offering a specific date. The cable company will notify former Time-Warner customers about their viewing options once Charter migrates its Spectrum brand of programs and services to the Time-Warner cable systems in California and other states. Charter says it has 25 million home and business subscribers in 41 states. The company promises faster broadband speeds, better video products and more affordable phone service to new and existing customers. As the deal closed, Charter promised more investment in the two companies’ broadband network. The L.A. systems it acquired are all-digital. The spokesman assured Time-Warner customers they can keep their existing cable TV service once Charter launches its Spectrum brand in the L.A. market. “While we believe customers will see our Spectrum packages as more compelling and a better value, if a TWC ... customer likes the package they are currently in, they will be able to stay in that package,” Charter’s spokesman said. Former Time-Warner customers have to wonder how smoothly the changeover will go, given the sizable service problems that former Verizon Fios customers are experiencing with Frontier Communications. More than 1,250 customers as of last week had filed complaints with the Public Utilities Commission, according to a spokesman with the commission. The Public Utilities Commission apparently heard enough complaints to get involved. It held a public hearing yesterday in Long Beach about the many complaints lodged against Frontier by its subscribers. The meeting opened with a panel discussion about the phone outages, then the commission took public comment to hear firsthand accounts of how loss of phone and streaming video have affected households and disrupted business operations. Frontier had representatives at the hearing to assist with “customer service concerns,” the commission said before the event at Long Beach City Hall. An internet search about Frontier customer complaints found hundreds from California, Florida, the Midwest and Canada. A Redondo Beach customer of Frontier’s left a comment on the web site pissedconsumer. com about losing phone service for nearly two weeks. “Phone out reported the morning of May 9. Initial comment was action by May 12. Unacceptable, but it gets worse. Told a technician it would be out on May 14 by 5 p.m. No show. It’s now May 21 and nothing from Frontier regarding solution to this problem. They can’t (or won’t) tell me what the likely problem is and they lie.” Frontier blames corrupted software inherited from Verizon Fios for the repeated outages across Southern California and in several states. The telcom company promised state lawmakers last month it would correct the problems with slow internet speeds and service interruptions. A Lake Elsinore reviewer explained that Frontier canceled a service call and rescheduled it without checking with her. “I have been on the phone with them multiple times due to not having internet service for last two weeks. They finally scheduled an appointment for a technician to come to my home then cancelled the day of and left an automated voicemail rescheduling the appointment for a day I would not be home,” the customer wrote. The Time-Warner sale to Charter is part of a shakeup of telecom ownership that started in July when AT&T U-Verse bought El Segundo-based DirectTV. Frontier in April, wrapped up the deal to buy Verizon Fios and its landline divisions. All three pay-TV providers compete in the airport and South Bay cities. Charter quadrupled its number of Southern California subscribers and now services 1.5 million homes and businesses, according to published reports. Time-Warner customers will be relieved to know that Charter has contracts with the Los Angeles Dodgers for baseball, USC football and Lakers games. South Bay cities are yet to hear from Charter about its plans for the future. A change to the federal telecommunications act in 2006 stripped California cities of their authority over local cable TV providers. However, cable companies and cities have business relationships for public-access TV channels, some resident complaints, and maintenance contracts. Manhattan Beach has a five-year contract with Time-Warner Cable to maintain the fiber-optic cables for phone service, according to management fellow Kendra Davis. The new owners, Charter, have not contacted either Manhattan Beach or Torrance yet to discuss future plans. “As of this moment, the City has not received any communication regarding changes that may result from the sale of Time Warner to Charter Communications but is hopeful that it will not result in a disruption of service for the City or its residents,” Davis said in an email to the Herald. Charter Spectrum sent a letter last week to subscribers about the sale. City officials, however, say they learned from media reports and not the telecom companies themselves that the deal had closed. The Torrance manager of cable TV services also said that no one from Charter has contacted his office about the change of ownership. “Because they are conducting business in our community, and their customers are our residents and businesses, they have a unique opportunity to gain insight to any local impacts,” Cable and Community Relations Manager Michael Smith said. “We can also be a resource in dispelling any incorrect perceptions as well as mitigate customer service issues.” Time-Warner’s performance in Torrance was solid, based on the number of complaints taken by Smith’s office. Time-Warner subscribers lodged 15 complaints in 2014, 16 in 2015 and just two from January through May of this year, according to Smith. The majority of complaints were about billing and rates, according to the breakdown he provided. Time-Warner Cable and Charter are the only two cable providers in Southern California that show Los Angeles Dodgers games. Time- Warner took the lead in 2013 and signed a 25-year deal with the Dodgers. The Dodgers own SportsNet LA, but TWC is responsible for getting other pay-TV companies to use it. Frontier, U-Verse and Dish Network subscribers were shut out again this baseball season because their TV service providers refused to pay the Dodgers’ asking price to televise home and road games. There was talk that AT&T’s deal for Direct TV would require the new buyer to televise Dodgers games, but that didn’t happen. • Follow Us on Twitter @heraldpub Burkley & Brandlin LLP A T T O R N E Y S A T L A W Living Trusts/Wills, Probate, Employment Law, Personal Injury Trust and Estates Litigation, Business Litigation, Civil Litiga tion 310-540-6000 Lifetime El Segundo Residents *AV Rated (Highest) Martindale - Hubbell / **Certified Specialist Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law, State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization W O R K+D I N E @ CONTINENTAL PARK ALONG THE ROSECRANS CORRIDOR IN EL SEGUNDO/MANHATTAN BEACH • Amenity Rich Location • Convenient Access to Metro Rail System, 405 & 105 Freeways • 10 minutes to LAX • Professional Property Management on Site • It’s Not Just a Location; It’s a Lifestyle! OFFICE SPACE FOR LEASE CONTINENTAL PARK A project of C O N T I N E N TA L D E V E L O P M E N T C O R P O R AT I O N 2041 Rosecrans Av e . , E l S e g u n d o , C A 9 0 2 4 5 www. c o n t i n e n t a l d e v e l o p m e n t . c o m For Leasing Information, call 310.640.1520 By Buddy Dyer, Mayor of Orlando On June 12, 49 souls were stolen from Orlando, murdered in an unimaginable act of terror. Hundreds more were injured or witnessed unthinkable violence. Our city remains in a state of shock, our hearts broken as we grieve for the victims and their families. Everyone in our city is struggling to comprehend how Orlando, a place known around the world for joy and fun, is now also the site of the worst mass shooting in American history. In Orlando’s darkest hour, our community has been uplifted by the love and support from across our country and around the world. For decades, the world has come to Orlando to have fun. This week, when we needed it most, the world came to Orlando’s aid. We heard Americans singing outside of the White House. We saw rainbow flags flying above Seattle’s Space Needle and iconic landmarks lit up from coast to coast, all to show Orlando that we weren’t alone. Tens of thousands gathered in London, chanting, “Orlando, we have your back.” We witnessed candles lit in honor of our victims in front of The Coliseum in Rome. We saw the Eiffel tower lit up in the colors of the rainbow. So many of our victims are Hispanic, and we felt the love and strength of Latin America. Every day, we continue to watch unique and powerful displays of support from Germany, Sweden, India, Chile, Brazil and on and on. On behalf of everyone in Orlando, we want to thank our brothers and sisters from across America and around the world for standing with us, praying with us and mourning with us. Your shared strength and resolve has helped our city. If there is any good to be found in the darkness that has consumed our city, it is that the world has had the chance to see the other side of Orlando. Not our famous theme parks, but the growing city that still has a small town feel. The place that in many ways is America’s new melting pot. The City where diversity and inclusion are a vital part of our way of life. When the worst that humanity has to offer visited our city, the residents of Orlando showed they were more than capable of showing the world the best of humanity. My hope is that what happened in Orlando and our response to it compels others to find ways to work together to overcome hate, intolerance and injustice. Incredibly, we’ve already begun to hear from those who say that what has happened here and how our community has responded has sparked a change in their hearts. My hope is that we will be remembered, not as the city where a horrible shooting took place, but as the city that showed others that love can conquer hate. And, my hope is that Orlando’s tragedy is remembered as the event that lead our country into a new era of embracing diversity, equality and fairness. On behalf of everyone who calls Orlando home - thank you, thank you, thank you. • Brian R. Brandlin • Bruce R. Brandlin • Christopher P. Brandlin
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