Optimum Communications Explained

Optimum Communications, Inc.
Type:Public
Hq Location City:One Court Square
Long Island City, New York
Hq Location Country:U.S.
Revenue: US$8.95 billion
Revenue Year:2024
Operating Income: US$1.68 billion
Income Year:2024
Net Income: -US$103 million
Net Income Year:2024
Assets: US$31.7 billion
Assets Year:2024
Equity: -US$469 million
Equity Year:2024
Num Employees:10,900
Num Employees Year:2024
Parent:Altice (2016–2018)
Footnotes:[1]

Optimum Communications, Inc. (previously Altice USA) is an American telecommunications provider owned by French–Israeli businessman Patrick Drahi. The company primarily provides digital cable television and broadband services in the New York metropolitan area as well as in several Midwestern and Southern U.S. states.[2] With approximately 4.9 million residential and business customers in 21 U.S. states as of 2017[3] it is the fourth-largest telecommunications company in the United States. Optimum is based at One Court Square in Long Island City, Queens, New York City. The company's operational center is located at Cablevision's former headquarters in Bethpage, Nassau County, New York, on Long Island.

The company was formed via the acquisitions of Suddenlink Communications and Cablevision by Drahi's Altice in 2016. In 2017, the subsidiary went public on the New York Stock Exchange, and in 2018 was spun off from Altice as an independent company, although it still remains controlled by Drahi.

The company operates cable television and broadband services under the brand Optimum, which originated from Cablevision; the brand was extended to Suddenlink's systems in 2022, and became Altice USA's corporate name in 2025.

Products and services

Other properties

History

On May 20, 2015, Netherlands-based French company Altice NV announced that it would enter the U.S. cable market by purchasing Suddenlink Communications, the country's 7th-largest cable provider, for $9.1 billion.[12] The acquisition closed on December 21, 2015.[13]

On September 17, 2015, Altice NV announced its intention to acquire Cablevision from the Dolan family and other public shareholders for $17.7 billion. The deal was approved by the FCC on May 3, 2016[14] and after approval from various regional regulators such as New Jersey's Board of Public Utilities and the New York Public Service Commission, closed on June 21, 2016.[15] Under the terms of the deal, Altice paid $34.90 in cash for each share in Cablevision and a 22% premium to the company's stock price; Altice also assumed Cablevision's debt.[16]

In November 2016, Altice USA announced a five-year plan for fiber-to-the-home service to build a network capable of delivering 10 Gbit/s broadband speed.[17] In August 2017, the company stated it was on track to reach one million homes by the end of 2018.[18]

In May 2017, Altice USA announced its intention to rebrand its Suddenlink and Cablevision properties under the Altice name by the end of the second quarter of 2018.[19]

In June 2017, Altice USA went public on the New York Stock Exchange, raising $2.2 billion in its initial public offering.[20]

On January 8, 2018, Altice NV announced that it will spin-off Altice USA into a separate company. Patrick Drahi will maintain control of both companies, although they will be led by separate management teams.[21]

On April 30, 2019, it was announced Altice USA was buying Cheddar for $200 million in cash.[22]

On February 14, 2020, Altice USA announced that it had bought Service Electric in New Jersey.[23] [24] The deal closed in July.[25]

On March 1, 2021, Altice USA announced that it would acquire Morris Broadband in North Carolina for $310 million which was later closed on April 6, 2021. Altice later announced that Morris Broadband would be folded into Optimum.[26] [27] In April 2022, Altice USA announced that Suddenlink would be brought under the Optimum brand as part of its "Let's Reconnect" marketing campaign and FTTH deployments.[28]

On November 6, 2025, Altice USA announced that it would change its name to Optimum Communications effective November 19, unifying it with its service brand.[29] .

Markets

The company provides service in 22 states:[30] [31]

Carriage disputes

See also: Carriage disputes.

AMC Networks dispute

Altice engaged in a carriage dispute with the Dolan family (the former owners of Cablevision). Altice's contract to carry AMC Networks group of channels was to expire on December 31, 2016. On December 28 the two sides reached an agreement, three days before their contract with AMC expired.[32]

The Walt Disney Company dispute

Altice engaged in a dispute with The Walt Disney Company; the contract to carry the company's channels was set to expire on October 1, 2017.[33]

On October 1, 2017, Disney and Altice reached a last-minute agreement to continue carrying the company's channels; this narrowly averted what would have been a blackout of ABC-owned stations WABC-TV and WPVI-TV, along with the ESPN family of networks and various other channels.[34] As part of the agreement, ESPN Classic was removed from the Altice lineup.

Starz dispute

On January 1, 2018, Altice dropped Starz, Starz Encore, and all of their channels from its channel lineup. The dispute came after the companies were unable to reach an agreement.[35] The dispute ended on February 13, 2018, after both companies reached a new multi-year agreement.[36]

21st Century Fox dispute

On September 22, 2018, 21st Century Fox announced that all of its entertainment and sports channels, including Fox owned-and-operated station WNYW and MyNetworkTV O&O WWOR-TV, would be removed from Altice on October 1 if a new retransmission agreement was not reached by that date.[37]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2024 Annual Report (Form 10-K) . February 13, 2025 . U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
  2. News: 2015-12-18 . U.S. FCC approves Altice acquisition of cable firm Suddenlink . 2017-09-28 . Reuters.
  3. News: 2017-06-21 . Altice USA CEO Goei Thinks Ahead to M&A on First Day of Trading . 2017-09-28 . Bloomberg News.
  4. Web site: 2020-04-30. One Gigabit Broadband Speeds Now Available to Millions of Optimum Customers Across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. 2020-08-02. Altice USA. en.
  5. Web site: Altice USA Launches Wireless Service. Farrell. Mike. 2019-09-05. NextTV. en-us. 2021-11-06.
  6. News: Altice USA Forms Business Unit. NextTV. 2021-11-06. en-us.
  7. Web site: About Us: Ethernet Services & Solutions Provider - Lightpath. golightpath.com.
  8. News: Patrick Dolan and Altice USA Enter into Agreement for Newsday Media Group. 2016-07-07. Businesswire.com. 2017-11-12. en.
  9. Web site: Cablevision. https://web.archive.org/web/20100216222219/http://www.cablevision.com/local/index.jsp. dead. 16 February 2010. 16 February 2010.
  10. News: Cable giant buys Philly ad targeter Audience Partners . Philadelphia Daily News. 2017-03-08. 2017-11-05. en.
  11. Web site: Cheddar News Has New Owners . 28 December 2023 .
  12. Web site: Altice enters U.S. cable market with Suddenlink move. 2015-05-20. Reuters. 2017-11-07.
  13. Web site: Altice Closes Suddenlink Deal. 2015-12-21. NextTV. 2021-11-06.
  14. Web site: Altice and Cablevision, WC Docket 15-257. 2015-12-04. Federal Communications Commission. 2016-06-22.
  15. Web site: Altice Completes Acquisition of Cablevision Systems Corporation. June 21, 2016. Altice NV.
  16. News: Expanding in U.S., Altice Plans to Buy Cablevision for $17.7 Billion. Emily Steel . Mark Scott . The New York Times. September 17, 2015. September 17, 2015.
  17. Web site: 30 November 2016 . Altice USA to Skip DOCSIS 3.1, Roll Out All-Fiber Network . 2021-11-06 . NextTV . en.
  18. Web site: Altice says it will reach 1M new homes with fiber by end of 2018 FierceCable . 2017-10-02 . www.fiercecable.com . en.
  19. Web site: Suddenlink and Optimum brands to disappear amid Altice rebrand. May 24, 2017. Fierce Cable. 2017-10-10.
  20. Web site: June 27, 2017 . Altice USA IPO raised $2.2 billion in final tally . November 2, 2017 . News Day.
  21. News: Rosemain. Mathieu. Athavaley. Anjali. Drahi hits Altice reset button to court wary investors. 11 January 2018. Reuters. 8 January 2018.
  22. Web site: Altice USA Buys Digital News Service Cheddar for $200M. . 30 April 2019.
  23. News: Farrell. Mike. February 12, 2020. Altice to Buy Service Electric New Jersey Systems for $150M. NextTV News. November 6, 2021.
  24. Web site: Service Electric to be acquired by NYC-based Altice cable. 2020-07-31. 2020-07-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20200719182048/https://www.njherald.com/news/20200214/service-electric-to-be-acquired-by-nyc-based-altice-cable. dead.
  25. Web site: Goodbye Service Electric: Altice USA closes acquisition of utility.
  26. Web site: Altice USA to Acquire Morris Broadband . Altice USA . November 12, 2021 . March 1, 2021.
  27. Web site: Altice USA Completes Acquisition of Morris Broadband . Altice USA . November 12, 2021 . April 6, 2021.
  28. News: Suddenlink rebranding as 'Optimum' amid fiber upgrades . http://web.archive.org/web/20250818091543/https://www.lightreading.com/cable-technology/suddenlink-rebranding-as-optimum-amid-fiber-upgrades . 2025-08-18 . 2026-01-05 . en.
  29. Web site: Weprin . Alex . 2025-11-06 . Altice Changes Corporate Name to Optimum Communications . 2025-11-12 . The Hollywood Reporter . en-US.
  30. News: Anders . David . April 21, 2022 . Need Home Internet Service? Find the Internet Providers in Your Area . . April 21, 2022 . Red Ventures . May 5, 2022 .
  31. News: Anders . David . April 30, 2022 . Optimum Internet Review: Good When It Wants to Be . . April 30, 2022 . Red Ventures . May 5, 2022 .
  32. Web site: Altice USA, AMC Networks Reach Carriage Deal. NextTV. 29 December 2016 . 2017-01-01.
  33. Web site: Renshaw . Jarrett . 24 September 2017 . Walt Disney threatens to pull ESPN, ABC from Optimum . 16 November 2020 . Reuters.
  34. davidfaber. 914604169083973632. David. Faber. Disney and Altice say have reached an agreement in principle and have extended deadline to finalize terms for new carriage deal..
  35. Web site: Starz goes dark on Altice in first big carriage battle of 2018 - FierceCable. www.fiercecable.com.
  36. Web site: February 13, 2018 . ALTICE USA AND STARZ ANNOUNCE MULTI-YEAR CARRIAGE AGREEMENT . June 6, 2023 . Altice USA.
  37. Fox Networks Group, Altice USA Rattle Sabers in New York Carriage Fight. Littleton. Cynthia. Variety. September 22, 2018. September 28, 2018.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Optimum Communications".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2026, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.