Time Warner Cable and MediaOne Group Inc. have completed a
series of system swaps involving a total of more than 500,000 subscribers.
As part of the deal, Time Warner received 270,000
subscribers in Ohio and 10,000 customers in Maine from MediaOne. In return, MediaOne
received an undisclosed amount of cash and 240,000 customers in Massachusetts and New
Hampshire.
The agreement between the two MSOs to trade the systems
dates back to February, when the companies also agreed to swap MediaOne's 70,000
customers in Palm Desert, Calif., for 71,000 Time Warner customers in Atlanta.
That trade is expected to close later this summer.
Time Warner is Ohio's largest cable provider, with
more than 1.2 million customers prior to the close of the trade.
Of its four Ohio divisions, the Columbus division gains
about 40,000 customers from MediaOne. The trade expands that
division's service area to more than 40 new communities, including Athens, Lancaster,
Circleville, Galion and Crestline. Time Warner Communications Columbus now serves nearly
305,000 customers in 290 communities.
MediaOne received systems from Time Warner with
about 240,000 customers in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, plus an undisclosed amount of
cash. MediaOne is New England's largest broadband-services provider,
with 1.5 million customers after the close of the trade.
Waller Capital Corp. assisted both companies in arranging
the transaction.
MediaOne agreed in May to be acquired by AT&T Corp. in
a deal valued at about $63 billion. That transaction is expected to close next year.
