Charter Communications, also known as Spectrum, is implementing a series of changes to improve its reputation and customer experience. CEO Chris Winfrey wants customers to associate the company with reliability and credibility. To achieve this, Charter is introducing new bundles and pricing, increasing internet speeds, offering credits for service outages, and promising heightened reliability.
The company aims to remove the negative connotations associated with cable companies by launching Spectrum’s new “Life Unlimited” customer commitment. This commitment focuses on making the company more approachable and acknowledges that it is not perfect. Charter wants to be a better service operator and is putting pressure on itself to continuously improve.
One of the first steps towards changing customer perception is through pricing and packaging that offers more value than competitors. Spectrum is offering internet plans as low as $30 a month for 500Mbps or $40 a month for 1GB service when bundled with two mobile lines or cable TV. Additionally, the company is increasing the baseline internet speed for current customers at no extra cost. Charter is also being transparent about costs by including taxes and fees in the pricing, eliminating annual contracts, and guaranteeing pricing for up to three years.
To further enhance customer satisfaction, Spectrum is pledging to give credits for customer service failures and internet outages lasting more than two hours. However, service issues caused by weather, natural disasters, or power outages will not be eligible for credits.
The rollout of the Life Unlimited platform will occur across Spectrum’s 41-state footprint. This platform encompasses Spectrum’s internet, mobile, and TV services.
These changes mark some of Charter’s biggest moves since Chris Winfrey became CEO in December 2022. Winfrey, who was previously the CFO, took over from Tom Rutledge, who had transformed Charter into the second-largest cable company in the US through mergers with Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks.
Charter has faced challenges in recent years, including a slowdown in broadband subscriber growth and increased competition from wireless providers like AT&T and Verizon. The third quarter of 2023 saw the worst-ever subscriber losses for the broadband industry, with Charter losing 149,000 subscribers. However, the company’s mobile business, Spectrum Mobile, has experienced rapid growth and currently has 8.8 million total lines.
Charter’s focus on customer satisfaction and value creation has been successful in its mobile business. The company’s “Spectrum One” promotion, which bundles broadband, Wi-Fi, and mobile, has been well-received. Analysts have praised Charter’s mobile business as an “underappreciated growth engine” due to customer additions and increased average revenue per user (ARPU).
Charter has also made efforts to preserve its pay TV business, despite the decline in customers across all providers. In 2023, Charter negotiated a deal with Disney that allowed ad-supported streaming options like Disney+ and ESPN+ to be included in its TV packages. This deal showcased Charter’s vision for the future of pay TV and its understanding of the importance of streaming services like ESPN in the cable TV bundle.
Charter has also secured deals with other streaming platforms like Warner Bros. Discovery and AMC Networks. These deals not only provide Charter customers with access to a variety of streaming services but also allow Charter to market and sell these services to its broadband-only customers. The company has also introduced its own streaming devices, known as Xumo, which combine cable TV and streaming apps in one place.
While Charter still has obstacles to overcome, such as including NBCUniversal’s Peacock in its streaming roster, the company remains focused on offering a comprehensive and customer-centric cable TV and streaming experience. By prioritizing customer satisfaction and value creation, Charter aims to improve its reputation and provide a better service for its customers.
