Wave Broadband, WideOpenWest buy Broadstripe cable systems

Cable overbuilders Wave Broadband and WideOpenWest are buying systems from Broadstripe LLC, a Maryland-based triple-play provider that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2009.

Wave said it agreed to buy Broadstripe cable systems in Washington and Oregon which reach more than 103,000 homes. It's a significant deal for Wave, which markets pay TV, high-speed Internet and telephone service to about 300,000 customers in California, Washington and Oregon.

Broadstripe agreed to sell systems counting 92,000 households in Michigan to WideOpenWest. The company already counts 1.5 million customers in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.

The deals give both Wave and WideOpenWest a jolt in the number of subscribers they serve, which could give the companies additional leverage to negotiate deals with cable programmers and technology vendors. Expansion will also help the cable overbuilders boost revenue through local ad sales.

For more:
- see news release from Wave and WideOpenWest

Related articles:
Broadstripe latest MSO to test the acquisition waters
Mediacom, WideOpenWest drop out of Insight auction