Many agree that it’s not very wise to put much faith in
rumors, but when the rumors may lead to better cable service, those
same people hope fiction will turn to fact.
Many students living off-campus say cable provider Adelphia
Communications Corp. does not deliver, especially when it comes to
customer service.
Now there are rumors within the industry that the cable service
will be at least partially bought out.
Cable companies such as Time Warner Inc. and Comcast Corp. have
expressed interest in the local, much-maligned cable provider after
it filed for bankruptcy protection in 2002.
“The company submitted a plan for reorganization back in
February,” said Erica Stull, an Adelphia spokesperson.
The reorganization under Chapter 11 of the federal Bankruptcy
Code is a sign of the struggles Adelphia has had.
According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the way
Chapter 11 works is the bankruptcy branch of the Justice Department
appoints a committee to represent the interests of the creditors
and develops a reorganizational plan to get the company out of
debt.
“Adelphia is heavy here because they bought out parts of
other companies. … Those companies didn’t invest a lot of
money in their infrastructure and neither has Adelphia,” said
Gigi Johnson, executive director of the Anderson Entertainment and
Media Management Institute.
The lack of financial investment is just one of the many
problems Adelphia has had in the past, Johnson said.
“I’ve heard a lot of bad things,” said Daniel
Zamani, a third-year undeclared student. “There’s
definitely a lot of talk about it being overpriced,” he
said.
The high cost of cable TV may be in some part due to charges of
fraud. Earlier this year, John Rigas ““ founder of Adelphia
““ and his son Timothy were convicted of conspiracy and fraud
for allegedly stealing billions of dollars from the cable
company.
In addition, Adelphia has fallen upon a host of financial
problems, Johnson said, and is sorely lacking in the funds to
strengthen its infrastructure and thus customer service.
Currently, Adelphia is in the process of carrying out its
reorganization plan, which includes selling off its parts.
“We envision merging with other organizations. … The
point is to get the greatest value for our creditors,” Stull
said.
The track Adelphia has chosen to pursue has companies such as
Time Warner and Comcast vying for parts of the company.
“Sometimes the parts are worth more than the whole,”
Johnson said, referring to the reason why a variety of companies
are interested in the acquisition of the company.
A number of parties are looking into acquiring the company,
Stull said, and Adelphia has sent them confidential information
about the financial structure of the company.
“Initial expressions of interest are due at the end of the
month, and final bids are due at the end of the year,” Stull
added.
It will be a while until the status of the reorganization
changes, and students’ cable service is affected.
“This will not be a quick process, but the bankruptcy
court is interested in getting Adelphia out of debt,” Johnson
said.
For students living in the apartments, the possibility of a
change in cable sparks curiosity as to any potential change in
service.
“It will be different,” Johnson said, “Comcast
is known for having pretty good customer service … but most
customer service is improving.”
Adelphia has a monopoly on the cable market in the region, and
as a result, it hasn’t had much competition until satellite
TV became popular.
“(Adelphia) really saturates the market with ads. I see it
all the time,” Zamani said.
The reason for the recent increase in the level of customer
service comes from competition. As many customers become frustrated
with cable, they switch to satellite.
Satellite companies, in general, have better overall service,
Johnson said, and as a result cable companies have been losing
customers.
With the competition of satellite, combined with the possibility
of a new cable provider in the future, students may soon see a
change in service.