Altice USA
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | 2016 |
| Founder | Patrick Drahi |
| Headquarters | Long Island City, Queens , United States |
Area served | 21 states in the U.S. |
Key people | Patrick Drahi (owner) |
| Products | Pay TV, Internet connectivity, telephone services, proprietary programming |
| Parent | Altice USA (until 2025) |
| Website | www |
Optimum Communications, Inc. is a telecommunications company based in New York City, owned by Franco-Israeli entrepreneur Patrick Drahi. Serving approximately 4.9 million residential and commercial clients across 21 states in the U.S., the firm provides pay TV, Internet connectivity, telephone services, and proprietary programming. Altice USA, headquartered at One Court Square in Long Island City, Queens, operates its primary facility from the former Cablevision headquarters located in Bethpage, New York. Collectively, its brands position it as the fourth-largest cable operator nationwide, catering to customers in the New York metro region as well as parts of the Midwest and South.
Operating as a multiple-systems operator, Optimum Communications manages the Optimum brand portfolio. The company also distributes international news through the 2017 U.S. launch of i24NEWS and offers local coverage via News 12 Networks. In November 2016, Altice USA revealed a five-year initiative to roll out fiber-to-the-home technology delivering broadband speeds up to 10 Gbit/s. By August 2017, it aimed to connect one million residences with fiber optics by the close of 2018. Altice USA raised $2.2 billion through an initial public offering in June 2017. In April 2022, it consolidated its former Suddenlink operations under the Optimum brand name.
Products and services
- Optimum Online, an Internet service utilizing DOCSIS technology with speeds reaching 940 Mbit/s. As of April 2020, fiber-to-the-home coverage extends over more than half of its service area.
- Customers gain access to Optimum Wi-Fi hotspots within Altice’s footprint as well as nationwide hotspots operated by Charter Spectrum, Comcast, and Cox.
- Optimum Voice, a telephone service based on Voice over IP (VoIP) technology
- Optimum TV, providing digital cable television services
- Altice Mobile, a wireless carrier delivering unlimited talk, text, and data via a nationwide 4G LTE network
Additional assets
- Altice Business, created by merging Lightpath, Optimum Business, and Suddenlink Business units, supplies internet, telephony, and television solutions to over 375,000 business customers across 21 states.
- News 12 Networks, a collection of cable channels offering news, weather updates, traffic reports, and sports coverage throughout the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut tri-state area via seven local news channels and five dedicated traffic/weather channels.
- News 12 Varsity, a high school sports channel broadcasting live local varsity competitions.
- Audience Partners, a provider of audience-targeted digital advertising solutions acquired in March 2017.
- Cheddar, a live-stream financial news network purchased in 2019 and later sold to Archetype in 2023.
History
On May 20, 2015, French telecommunications firm Altice NV from the Netherlands announced its U.S. market entry by acquiring Suddenlink Communications—the nation’s seventh-largest cable operator—for $9.1 billion. The transaction finalized on December 21, 2015.
On September 17, 2015, Altice NV declared plans to acquire Cablevision from the Dolan family and other shareholders for $17.7 billion. Following regulatory approvals from the FCC on May 3, 2016, and regional bodies thereafter, the deal closed on June 21, 2016. Altice paid $34.90 per share—a premium of 22% over Cablevision’s stock price—and assumed its outstanding debt.
In May 2017, Altice USA announced intentions to rebrand its Suddenlink and Cablevision divisions under the Altice name by mid-2018. The company went public in June that year with an IPO raising $2.2 billion.
On January 8, 2018, Altice NV announced the separation of Altice USA into an independent entity; Patrick Drahi retained ownership of both firms while establishing distinct management teams.
Altice USA acquired digital news platform Cheddar for $200 million in cash on April 30, 2019.
In February 2020, Altice USA purchased Service Electric Broadband Cable in New Jersey for $150 million; this acquisition was completed in July.
On March 1, 2021, Altice USA disclosed plans to acquire Morris Broadband in North Carolina for $310 million; the deal closed on April 6 with integration into Optimum scheduled.
On November 6, 2025, Altice USA announced a corporate name change to Optimum Communications effective November 19 to better align with its service branding. The company celebrated this rebranding by ringing the NYSE closing bell on November 21 amid ongoing ICC investigations into related entities concerning corruption allegations.
Markets
Altice conducts its operations across 22 states, covering significant regions such as Arizona, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia. This extensive geographic presence aligns with the company's strategic objective to broaden fiber network access and improve its service portfolio in various markets.
AMC Networks dispute
Altice encountered a carriage negotiation challenge with AMC Networks when their contract was due to expire on December 31, 2016. The two parties successfully negotiated a new agreement just three days before the deadline, maintaining uninterrupted availability of AMC's channels.
The Walt Disney Company dispute
In 2017, Altice and The Walt Disney Company engaged in a contract renewal disagreement that threatened the continuation of prominent channels such as ESPN and ABC affiliates. A resolution was reached at the final hour on October 1, 2017, preventing any service disruption. As part of this settlement, ESPN Classic was removed from Altice’s channel lineup.
Starz dispute
On January 1, 2018, Altice ceased carrying Starz, Starz Encore, and associated networks due to an unresolved carriage agreement. This dispute was resolved on February 13, 2018, with the signing of a new multi-year contract.
21st Century Fox dispute
On September 22, 2018, 21st Century Fox issued a notice indicating that all its entertainment and sports channels—including Fox O&O WNYW and MyNetworkTV O&O WWOR-TV—would be removed from Altice’s lineup as of October 1 if no retransmission consent deal was finalized.
See also
External links
- Articles with short description
- Altice USA
- Companies based in Nassau County, New York
- Economy of the Northeastern United States
- Cable television companies of the United States
- Corporate spin-offs
- Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
- American companies established in 2016
- Telecommunications companies established in 2016
- 2017 initial public offerings