Charter 2000 Annual Report Download - page 13

11 CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS11 CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS
ROLLING OUT BIGGER BROADBAND
Charter is capitalizing on advances in technology to
build a high-capacity system that will deliver advanced,
interactive services for years to come.
We’re well into a three-and-a-half-year, $3.5 billion
program to upgrade/rebuild our system to the highest
broadband standards in the industry. The entire project
encompasses more than 135,000 miles of our 192,000-
mile hybrid fiber and coaxial cable plant. Charter rebuilt
40,000 miles in 2000 and is on track to rebuild as
much or more in 2001.
As of year-end 2000, 67 per-
cent of our customers were served
by plant upgraded to at least 550
megahertz. Approximately 57 per-
cent of our customers had access to
two-way enacted plant, which is
necessary for advanced interactive
services through the television and
PC. By the end of the year 2002,
88 percent of our customers will
be served by 750 megahertz plant
or greater, providing full, two-way
interactive capability.
We’re creating a robust system
with built-in room for growth. Our
system architecture incorporates a
maximum node size of 500 homes and currently averages
380 homes – small nodes that ensure quality and relia-
bility. Six strands of fiber are installed to the node, two
for current use and four for future expansion. We can
reduce the node size to 60 homes to create even greater
capacity as demand for broadband services grows.
As we rebuild our infrastructure, we’re consolidat-
ing and upgrading the systems we’ve acquired in recent
years. By linking smaller communities to larger systems,
we’re able to accelerate the rollout of advanced services
to those communities. We’re also taking advantage
of economies of scale to create a national Network
Operations Center (NOC) in the St. Louis area to
manage our entire network.
ACHIEVING ADVANTAGES OF SCALE
Because of an ambitious acquisition program and suc-
cessful integration of acquired cable systems, Charter
Communications has achieved the critical mass to be
a leader in broadband communi-
cations. After integrating systems
that more than doubled our size
in 1999, Charter’s network now
encompasses more than 10 million
homes passed, and nearly 6.4 mil-
lion customers.
We signed an agreement with
AT&T Broadband in February
2001 to purchase systems that will
add a net 512,000 customers. This
acquisition will provide significant
operational and technical efficien-
cies in the St. Louis metropolitan
area, a top 20 U.S. cable market
and our headquarters location.
We’ll be the leading provider in Birmingham, a top
40 market, making additional efficiencies possible
in our Alabama systems. And we’ll also enter Reno,
Nevada, another market with high growth and
tremendous demand for broadband.
As we consolidate and integrate smaller systems,
we improve the service quality and reliability and bring
increased broadband capacity to our customers.
DELIVERING ON THE VISION
Rebuilding 135,000 miles
of broadband plant
Charter is building a broadband network and system infrastructure
to support new interactive services well into the future.
Percent of Customers Served
by Advanced Technology
MHz 2000 2001(e) 2002(e)
<500 33% 20% 7%
550 13% 13% 5%
750 37% 39% 44%
870 17% 28% 44%
2-way
capability 57% 71% 89%
As we rebuild our system, Charter
is putting in place the architecture to
deliver an array of advanced services
through high-bandwidth technology.
(e) estimated