Charter Deal on Track
Washington -- Paul Allen's $4.5 billion deal to buy
Charter Communications Inc. appears to be on track at the Federal Communications
Commission.
The FCC, in a public notice dated Nov. 4, said it had
accepted for filing 23 applications to transfer microwave licenses from Charter to Allen,
whose ownership of Charter will put him in control of the No. 7 MSO, with about 2.4
million subscribers.
Charter chairman Barry Babcock said last month that he
expects the sale to Allen to close in December. Charter filed with the FCC to transfer
what are called cable-television-relay-service (CARS) licenses. CARS facilities distribute
programming via microwave between headends that are too difficult to connect via cable due
to hostile terrain.
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