Cable service for Mount Pleasant and surrounding districts has been upgraded a notch by Charter Communication’s acquisition of Bresnan Communications.
The $3.1 billion bargain was finalized Feb. 14, said John L. Smith, general manager for Mount Pleasant’s Charter Communications, 915 E. Broomfield Road.
“This offer came out of the blue,” Smith said. “It just turned out to be the right choice for investors at this time.”
Smith said this kind of financial backing will enable local charter services to better serve its customers.
“We will be able to get technology to them more quickly,” Smith said.
He said 40 municipalities are served from the Mount Pleasant office in Gratiot, Clare, Gladwin and Isabella counties.
Charter Communications has gone through a tremendous growth spurt, Smith said, and in January 1999, Charter had 1.2 million customers nationwide. It currently has 6.2 million customers.
“In the last four months just in the state of Michigan, (Charter Communications) has purchased Fanch Communications, Falcon Communications, Avalon Communications and finally Bresnan,” Smith said.
It is unknown at this time what the financial implications of this acquisition will mean for the consumer.
“We really have not set anything in place as of now in terms of changes,” Smith said.
Smith said Charter, which previously did not have customers in the state of Michigan, will now have approximately 550,000 with the new acquisitions.
Bresnan brought 690,000 customers to Charter from states including Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska and Michigan.
According to a press release, Charter offers many services including cable television, high-speed Internet access, advanced digital video programming and paging.
Although Bresnan has been around since 1984, it has only served Mount Pleasant since February 1999, Smith said.

E-mail the author: Dorothy BourdetLIFE Staff Writer