NY AG Files Spectrum-Time Warner Lawsuit Over False Promises of Internet Speeds

The attorney general of New York has filed a Spectrum-Time Warner lawsuit alleging the company failed to live up to its promises of fast internet speeds.

This past Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the consumer protection lawsuit against Spectrum-Time Warner and its parent company Charter Communications Inc.

The action claims Spectrum-Time Warner ran a “systematic scheme to defraud and mislead subscribers to its Internet service by promising to deliver Internet service that it knew it could not and would not deliver.”

The complaint seeks hundreds of millions of dollars in damages and restitution on behalf of millions of New York internet customers

According to this Spectrum-Time Warner lawsuit, the defendant provides internet service to around 2.5 million New York subscribers, bringing in more than $1 billion dollars in annual revenue – making it the largest residential internet service provider in the state.

The attorney general alleges that since at least January 2012, Spectrum-Time Warner has been promising internet speeds and reliable access to online content that it knew it couldn’t deliver.

Results of a October 2015 investigation revealed that while Spectrum-Time Warner promised fast internet speeds, it leased to those customers older-generation modems and wifi routers that the company knew were incapable of delivering on those promises, according to the attorney general.

The Spectrum-Time Warner lawsuit also accuses the company of failing to make changes to its network that would have provided the level of service consistent with the company’s promises.

Even while leasing out the outdated wireless equipment, Spectrum-Time Warner falsely promised customers that they could get the same performance from wireless service as from a wired connection, the complaint alleges.

As a result of Spectrum-Time Warner’s alleged inaction, customers got only a fraction of the internet speed they were led to expect.

Speeds under the company’s premium wired service were as much as 70 percent slower than the advertised 100 to 300 megabits per second, according to the attorney general. Wifi speeds could drop by as much as 80 percent, the complaint reads.

In a press conference announcing the Spectrum-Time Warner lawsuit, Schneiderman noted that “[t]he allegations in today’s lawsuit confirm what millions of New Yorkers have long suspected — Spectrum-Time Warner Cable has been ripping you off.”

“Today’s action seeks to bring much-needed relief to the millions of New Yorkers we allege have been getting cheated by Spectrum-Time Warner Cable for far too long,” Schneiderman said. “Even now, Spectrum-Time Warner Cable continues to offer Internet speeds that we found they cannot reliably deliver.”

Defendant Charter, which purchased Spectrum-Time Warner only recently, responded that the allegations of low internet speeds were based on measurements taken before the purchase. Charter says that as part of that merger, it made certain commitments regarding network investment, broadband deployment and customer service.

The attorney general’s office is represented by attorneys Kathleen A. McGee, Manisha M. Sheth, Simon G. Brandler, Aaron Chase, Mihir E. Kshirsagar, Kate Matuschak and Alexander Goldman.

The Spectrum-Time Warner Consumer Protection Lawsuit is The People of the State of New York v. Charter Communications Inc., et al., Case No. 450318/2017, in the Supreme Court of the State of New York for New York County.

UPDATE: May 2019, a New York Attorney General Spectrum-Time Warner settlement has been reached. Learn more here.