Cablevision Systems and Time Warner Cable were the MSOs most affected by deadly superstorm Sandy – Cablevision has about 3 million customers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, while Time Warner Cable has more than 1 million customers in the Greater New York City area.
According to both companies, most of the repair efforts have centered on restoring lost power, with little damage to their respective cable plants.
But that could mean long stretches without service for some customers in the affected areas.
According to several reports, while New York utility Con Edison said electricity should be restored to the 228,000 residences (as of Nov. 1) in Manhattan without service by Saturday (Nov. 3), power is not expected to be restored fully in some parts of New York and New Jersey until Nov. 11.
Cablevision estimated that about half of its customers in the New York Metro Area, or about 1.5 million homes, were without power as of 4 p.m. on Nov. 1.
Of the 1.75 million Cablevision customers in the area with power, just 7,681 did not have cable service. The Bethpage, N.Y.-based MSO said that 63 of its 64 transmission facilities in the tri-state area were fully operational as of Nov. 1, with only its Seaside Heights, N.J., facility out of service.
“Following this unprecedented event, loss of electrical power continues to be the primary cause of widespread disruptions to Optimum service,” Cablevision said in a statement. “Cablevision crews are in the field and are working to restore service as quickly as possible after the return of power.”
Canaccord Genuity media analyst Tom Eagan predicted Hurricane Sandy could cost Cablevision $25 million to $40 million in repair costs, service outages and lost business.
