Charter is under fire in new lawsuit over broadband losses

After some rough Q2 beats, Charter has found itself in legal hot water over its broadband subscriber losses. A class action lawsuit, filed August 14 on behalf of Charter shareholders, alleged the company understated the impact of the Affordable Connectivity Program’s demise. Charter has said it had over 5 million subscribers on ACP, which offered a $30/month broadband subsidy for low-income households before it ran out of funding in June 2024. Given Charter had way more ACP subscribers than its peers (such as Comcast, Cox and Verizon), the company’s investors have been concerned about the toll the ACP’s end took on its broadband business. The complaint, filed in a New York district court, comes after Charter posted worse-than-expected broadband losses of 117,000. The plaintiff claimed Charter execs “made materially false and misleading statements that conditioned investors to believe the Company could manage and reverse the causes of Internet customer declines.”