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Company Brief
Altice USA

by Faulkner Staff

Copyright 2022, Faulkner Information Services. All Rights Reserved.

Docid: 00017187

Publication Date: 2204

Report Type: VENDOR

Preview

Altice USA provides broadband communications and video services in the United States and markets
its services primarily under two brands: Optimum (in the New York metropolitan area) and Suddenlink (principally in markets
in the south-central United States). The firm delivers broadband, video, telephony, and mobile services to more than five million residential
and business customers across 21 states. Altice also offers news programming and
original content as well as advertising services. This company brief
provides an overview of Altice USA’s operations.

Report Contents:

• Fast Facts
• Profile
• Key Executives
• Product Lines
• Major Competitors
• Recent Activity

Fast Facts

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Name: Altice USA
Headquarters
1 Court Square West
Long Island City, NY 11101
Phone: (516) 803-2300
Web: https://www.alticeusa.com/
Type: Cable network operator
Founded: 1973
Stock: ATUS (NYSE)
Service Areas: US

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Profile

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Altice USA – which operates primarily as a
"technology-driven organization" – believes that continued investment in
innovation, network, and services will allow it to be flexible to better meet
consumer needs, enhance the customer experience, and provide improved high-value
services for customers. The company is controlled by Patrick Drahi through Next Alt.
S.à.r.l., who also controls Altice Group Lux S.à.r.l. (formerly Altice Europe N.V.) and its subsidiaries and other entities. The company provides residential and business services to more than
five million
business and residential customers across 21 US states (2021), including digital cable TV, high-speed Internet,
and data products and services for keeping customers connected “across any
device.” Altice also offers hyper-local news and programming that is created
specifically for the communities it serves.

Altice’s core principles are centered around its commitment to customers,
employees, and local communities.

History

Altice USA was founded as Cablevision, a cable TV operator with 1,500
customers on Long Island, in 1973. Its history also includes the creation,
ownership, and operation of Rainbow Media Holdings and its popular television
networks from 1980 until June 2011, when it became a separate public company
named AMC Networks. In addition, the former Cablevision once served as the owner and operator of Madison
Square Garden and its properties (1997-2010).

The initial name change from Cablevision came about following the company’s
$17.7 billion acquisition by Altice in mid-2016. The company is a top provider
of telecommunications, media, and entertainment services.

More recently, Altice introduced Altice Mobile in September 2019. This mobile
carrier service promises "everything you want" at an alleged cost of just
"$20/mo. for life" (Optimum and Suddenlink customers). Altice also
closed its $200 million acquisition of Cheddar, a broadband communications and
video services provider, and created its digital-first "Cheddar Business" live
business news network. This service is available via the Optimum TV lineup in
the New York tri-state market.

Key Executives

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Among Altice USA’s more-prominent executives are:

• Chairman: Patrick Drahi
• Chief Executive Officer: Dexter Goei
• President, Altice News and Advertising: Keith Bowen
• Chief Financial Officer: Michael Grau
• Chief Procurement and Programming Officer: Yossi Benchetrit
• Special Advisor: Philippe Le May
• Executive Vice President, Chief Technology and Information Officer: Pragash Pillai
• Executive Vice President, Human Resources: Colleen Schmidt
• Executive Vice President, Altice Consumer Services: Matt Marino
• Executive Vice President, Altice Business Services: Matt Grover
• Executive Vice President, Government Affairs: Lee Schroeder
• Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary: Michael Olsen
• Executive Vice President, Communications and Community Affairs/Chief Diversity Officer: Lisa Gonzalez Anselmo
• Executive Vice President, Corporate Finance and Development: Nick Brown

Product Lines

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Altice
USA’s branded services are listed in Table 1.

Major Competitors

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AT&T and Verizon Fios are Altice USA’s primary fiber-based competitors but the company also faces
direct broadcast satellite competition from DirecTV (which is co-owned and co-managed by
AT&T) and DISH Network. Video services face competition from a number of other sources such as
companies that deliver movies, television shows, and other programming to
televisions, computers, tablets, and mobile devices, such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Apple
TV+, YouTube TV, Amazon Prime, Sling TV, DirecTV Stream, and others. In addition, its
cable programming partners continue to launch direct-to-consumer streaming products
delivering content to consumers that was formerly only available via video, such as
Discovery+, Disney+, HBO Max, and Paramount+. The telephony service competes with wireline,
wireless, and VoIP phone service providers such as Vonage, Skype, Facetime, WhatsApp and
magicJack, while its mobile wireless service, launched in September 2019, faces competition
from national service providers, like AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, and smaller regional
service providers as well as from a number of reseller providers such as Tracfone and Cricket
Wireless.

• AT&T: https://www.att.com/
• Comcast: http://www.comcast.com/
• DIRECTV: http://www.directv.com/
• DISH Network: http://www.dish.com/
• Verizon Communications:
  http://www.verizon.com/home/verizonglobalhome/ghp_landing.aspx/
• Vonage: http://www.vonage.com/

Recent Activity

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Past-year news items for Altice have included:

• March 2022 – Altice USA’s Optimum division announced the opening of 13 new Optimum retail stores across
  the New York Tri-State area in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Connecticut, and Long Island. The state-of-the-art retail stores offer an
  interactive in-store experience where customers can explore the complete line of Optimum connectivity offerings, including Optimum
  Internet, Optimum Fiber, Smart WiFi 6, Optimum Mobile, Optimum TV, and more. Customers are also able to sign up for service, shop
  the latest mobile devices and accessories, pay bills, and receive assistance from an Optimum retail associate. The company adds it
  is on track to open additional retail stores later this year to increase convenience and support to the communities it serves.
• February 2022 – Suddenlink, which is operated by Altice USA, plans to build a 100 percent fiber broadband
  network to reach homes and businesses it serves in six Texas markets: Abilene, Amarillo, Bryan-College Station, Lubbock, San Angelo,
  and Tyler. The fiber builds, which are expected to begin in mid-2022, are part of the company’s multi-year initiative to deploy
  full-fiber services in the Suddenlink footprint. The company expects to invest more than $500 million in Texas over the next four
  years to bring fiber services to the communities it serves throughout the state.
• January 2022 – Keith Bowen, chief revenue officer for Altice News & Advertising, has been named president of
  Altice News & Advertising, effective immediately. Bowen will now have oversight over Altice USA news brands Cheddar News, News 12,
  and i24NEWS as well as the a4 advanced advertising and data business. In addition, Kristin Malaspina has been named general
  manager of Cheddar News and SVP, Distribution for Altice News.
• September 2021 – Altice USA disclosed that Chief Operating Officer Hakim Boubazine, who also served as
  president of the Telecommunications unit, resigned from the company. Chief Executive Officer Dexter Goei will assume direct
  responsibilities for the division effective immediately, while Boubazine will serve as a senior advisor to the CEO until the
  end of the year.
• July 2021 – Announces the rebrand of its nationwide mobile service
  to Optimum Mobile effective July 25, 2021. The transition represents the first step in
  the company’s plan to align its brands under one national Optimum brand.
• March 2021 – Altice USA entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of Morris Broadband.
  The transaction will expand Altice USA’s footprint in North Carolina, where it already has a presence with its Suddenlink
  business. The deal is estimated to be worth $310 million. Morris Broadband is a rapidly growing broadband communications
  services company that provides high-speed data, video, and voice services to approximately 36,500 residential and business
  customers in western North Carolina. With the acquisition, North Carolina will be the sixth largest state for Altice USA of
  the 21 in which it operates in terms of number of residential customers.

 

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