Service Electric to be acquired by Altice USA
Business. Altice USA is purchasing Service Electric Cable (SEC). It remains to be seen if the sale will result in better connectivity and faster internet speeds for Sussex County, which has been a subject of interest for many, including a Newton High School technology teacher and robotics team.
By Mandy Coriston
Service Electric Cable is expected to be sold to communications conglomerate Altice USA by this fall, for a cost of $150 million dollars. No formal announcement was made, but the news was in a fourth-quarter earnings report from Altice USA which was released in February. SEC-TV confirmed the sale, but no further details have been released.
Service Electric lays claim to be the oldest cable television service in the nation and was founded in 1948 in Pennsylvania. Today, three separate Service Electric franchises are owned by the children of founder John Walson. The Sparta business is the only one being sold to Altice, which also owns the Optimum cable brand and News12 local channels in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut in addition to several other regional and international cable and news brands.
It remains to be seen if the sale will result in better connectivity and faster internet speeds for Sussex County, which has been a subject of interest for many, including Newton High School technology teacher and robotic coach Jim Hofmann, who has been leading a charge for better internet in the region. Hofmann and his students organized a high-speed internet forum last year for residents to meet with providers and maintain a website where residents can get information on alternate providers at sites.google.com/newtonnj.org/sussexcountyfiberoptic/home, by clicking ‘internet providers’ and ‘fiber contractors’ on the home menu.
Local legislators have also been pressing for better internet in Sussex County, including Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ5), who spent time last summer visiting with officials from municipalities across the district and urging providers such as SEC-TV and Century Link to examine their infrastructures and find ways to increase connectivity even in the most rural areas of Sussex and Warren Counties. At a July 2019 press conference, Gottheimer said that faster internet is crucial for both students and businesses to be able to succeed in the area.
“Speed and connectivity are critical for us to be able to compete in a global economy,” Gottheimer said at that time. His office continues to address the issue with both residents and providers.
On the state level, Senator Steve Oroho maintains sponsorship and support for bills which would allow for a wider range of broadband providers to be able to deploy their services. He is currently sponsoring 2020 session Bill S1414, which if passed would direct the Board of Public Utilities to let alternate internet providers use poles owned by other cable and utility companies.