By: Morgan Chilson
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Charter Communications finalized its $34.5 billion deal to acquire Cox Communications on Thursday, and Kansans will soon see their Cox products marketed under Charter’s Spectrum brand.
Along with its Cox transaction, Charter announced completion of its purchase of Liberty Broadband Corp.
Now the largest cable company in the country, with services across 45 states, Charter will rebrand Cox services to the Spectrum name, said Chris Winfrey, CEO and president of the Connecticut-based company, in a media call.
Winfrey said he expects frontline employees to see few changes. There are more than 1,000 Cox employees in Kansas.
“The thing I want to make really clear is that from a frontline employee perspective, which is probably 90% of what each of these two companies have, there’ll be very little change, and we’re actually out hiring additional people today for sales positions,” he said.
Charter plans to move all customer service to the United States, which is a “job creation opportunity,” Winfrey said.
The company will be hiring for 1,000 new sales positions, said spokeswoman Christine Martini in an email. The company’s new release said all employees would be paid a minimum of $20 an hour.
Cox’s Atlanta headquarters office will see some reorganization, Winfrey said, but part of the acquisition negotiations included maintaining a “significant presence” in the city.
“Across many of our locations, the composition of the different types of employees is going to change to optimize for the footprint that we have and the talent that we have,” Winfrey said. “There’ll be certain functions that come out of Atlanta, and there’s certain functions that are already being moved into Atlanta.”
Charter’s southeast region is being moved to the Atlanta headquarter campus, Winfrey said.
Cox customers will see the brand name shift to Spectrum beginning in September, which includes changing all building and truck signage.
However, cost changes will occur immediately, Winfrey said. Internet pricing will be “better” and new Cox Mobile customers can receive a free mobile line for a year, he said.
“The value is higher for Spectrum products with more apps included, often better internet pricing,” Winfrey said. “The average pricing of internet is much lower with Spectrum, and mobile is lower, and video is also lower, but also has more value with the app.”
Winfrey said no Cox customers will be forced to switch but can elect to do so once Spectrum pricing and packages are launched in mid-September.
Charter is a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. Cox Communications was a privately held company.