CCI Form 10-K         

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION 
Washington, D.C. 20549 
 

FORM 10-K 


(Mark One)
[X]
 
ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE
ACT OF 1934
 
 
 
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2006
or
 
 
 
[   ]
 
TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES
EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
 
For the Transition Period From             to             
Commission File Number: 000-27927 
 
Charter Communications, Inc. 
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) 

Delaware
 
43-1857213
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)
 
(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number)
 
 
 
12405 Powerscourt Drive
 
 
St. Louis, Missouri 63131
 
(314) 965-0555
(Address of principal executive offices including zip code)
 
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
 
Securities registered pursuant to section 12(b) of the Act:
Class A Common Stock, $.001 Par Value 
Securities registered pursuant to section 12(g) of the Act: None
 
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes þ No o

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes o No þ
 
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes þ No o 
 
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§ 229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. o
 
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or a non-accelerated filer. See definition of “accelerated filer and large accelerated filer” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

                Large accelerated filer o        Accelerated filer þ                 Non-accelerated filer o
 
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes oNo þ 
 
The aggregate market value of the registrant of outstanding Class A Common Stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant at June 30, 2006 was approximately $459 million, computed based on the closing sale price as quoted on the NASDAQ Global Market on that date. For purposes of this calculation only, directors, executive officers and the principal controlling shareholder or entities controlled by such controlling shareholder of the registrant are deemed to be affiliates of the registrant.
 
There were 408,024,799 shares of Class A Common Stock outstanding as of January 31, 2007. There were 50,000 shares of Class B Common Stock outstanding as of the same date.
 
Documents Incorporated By Reference
Portions of the Proxy Statement for the annual meeting of stockholders to be held on June 12, 2007 are incorporated by reference into Part III.





 
CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
FORM 10-K — FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2006 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 
 
  
 
Page No.
PART I
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Item 1
 
Business
 
1
Item 1A
 
Risk Factors
 
21
Item 1B
 
Unresolved Staff Comments
 
33
Item 2
 
Properties
 
33
Item 3
 
Legal Proceedings
 
34
Item 4
 
Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
 
34
 
 
     
PART II
 
     
 
 
     
Item 5
 
Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
 
35
Item 6
 
Selected Financial Data
 
37
Item 7
 
Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
 
38
Item 7A
 
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure About Market Risk
 
68
Item 8
 
Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
 
69
Item 9
 
Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
 
69
Item 9A
 
Controls and Procedures
 
69
Item 9B
 
Other Information
 
70
 
 
     
PART III
 
     
 
 
     
Item 10
 
Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
 
71
Item 11
 
Executive Compensation
 
71
Item 12
 
Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
 
71
Item 13
 
Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence
 
71
Item 14
 
Principal Accounting Fees and Services
 
71
         
PART IV
 
     
 
 
     
Item 15
 
Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules
 
72
 
 
     
Signatures
 
73
 
 
     
Exhibit Index
 
74
 
This annual report on Form 10-K is for the year ended December 31, 2006. The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) allows us to “incorporate by reference” information that we file with the SEC, which means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you directly to those documents. Information incorporated by reference is considered to be part of this annual report. In addition, information that we file with the SEC in the future will automatically update and supersede information contained in this annual report. In this annual report, “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Charter Communications, Inc., Charter Communications Holding Company, LLC and their subsidiaries.
 
 





 
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS 
 
This annual report includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), regarding, among other things, our plans, strategies and prospects, both business and financial, including, without limitation, the forward-looking statements set forth in Part I. Item 1. under the heading "Business - Focus for 2007," and in Part II. Item 7. under the heading "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in this annual report. Although we believe that our plans, intentions and expectations reflected in or suggested by these forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot assure you that we will achieve or realize these plans, intentions or expectations. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including, without limitation, the factors described in Part I. Item 1A. under the heading "Risk Factors" and in Part II. Item 7. under the heading "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in this annual report. Many of the forward-looking statements contained in this annual report may be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "should," "planned," "will," "may," "intend," "estimated," "aim," "on track," "target," "opportunity" and "potential," among others. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements we make in this annual report are set forth in this annual report and in other reports or documents that we file from time to time with the SEC, and include, but are not limited to:

 
·
the availability, in general, of funds to meet interest payment obligations under our debt and to fund our operations and necessary capital expenditures, either through cash flows from operating activities, further borrowings or other sources and, in particular, our ability to be able to provide under the applicable debt instruments such funds (by dividend, investment or otherwise) to the applicable obligor of such debt;
 
·
our ability to comply with all covenants in our indentures and credit facilities, any violation of which could trigger a default of our other obligations under cross-default provisions;
 
·
our ability to pay or refinance debt prior to or when it becomes due and/or to take advantage of market opportunities and market windows to refinance that debt through new issuances, exchange offers or otherwise, including restructuring our balance sheet and leverage position;
  · competition from other video programming distributors, including incumbent telephone companies, direct broadcast satellite operators, wireless broadband providers and DSL providers;
  · unforeseen difficulties we may encounter in our continued introduction of our telephone services such as our ability to meet heightened customer expectations for the reliability of voice services compared to other services we provide and our ability to meet heightened demand for installations and customer service;
 
·
our ability to sustain and grow revenues and cash flows from operating activities by offering video, high-speed Internet, telephone and other services and to maintain and grow a stable customer base, particularly in the face of increasingly aggressive competition from other service providers;
 
·
our ability to obtain programming at reasonable prices or to pass programming cost increases on to our customers;
 
·
general business conditions, economic uncertainty or slowdown; and
 
·
the effects of governmental regulation, including but not limited to local franchise authorities, on our business.
 
All forward-looking statements attributable to us or any person acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. We are under no duty or obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this annual report.
 
 
ii


 
PART I
 
 
Item 1. Business. 
 
Introduction 
 
Charter Communications, Inc. ("Charter") is a broadband communications company operating in the United States, with approximately 5.73 million customers at December 31, 2006. Through our hybrid fiber and coaxial cable network, we offer our customers traditional cable video programming (analog and digital, which we refer to as "video" service), high-speed Internet access, advanced broadband cable services (such as Charter OnDemandTM video service ("OnDemand"), high definition television service, and digital video recorder (“DVR”) service) and, in many of our markets, telephone service. See "Item 1. Business — Products and Services" for further description of these terms, including "customers." 
 
At December 31, 2006, we served approximately 5.43 million analog video customers, of which approximately 2.81 million were also digital video customers. We also served approximately 2.40 million high-speed Internet customers (including approximately 268,900 who received only high-speed Internet services). We also provided telephone service to approximately 445,800 customers (including approximately 27,200 who received only telephone service).
 
At December 31, 2006, our investment in cable properties, long-term debt, accumulated deficit and total shareholders’ deficit were $14.4 billion, $19.1 billion, $11.5 billion and $6.2 billion, respectively. Our working capital deficit was $959 million at December 31, 2006. For the year ended December 31, 2006, our revenues, net loss applicable to common stock, and net loss per common share were approximately $5.5 billion, $1.4 billion, and $4.13, respectively.
 
We have a history of net losses. Further, we expect to continue to report net losses for the foreseeable future. Our net losses are principally attributable to insufficient revenue to cover the combination of operating expenses and interest expenses we incur because of our high level of debt and depreciation expenses that we incur resulting from the capital investments we have made and continue to make in our cable properties. We expect that these expenses will remain significant.

Charter was organized as a Delaware corporation in 1999 and completed an initial public offering of its Class A common stock in November 1999. Charter is a holding company whose principal assets are an approximate 55% equity interest (52% for accounting purposes) and a 100% voting interest in Charter Communications Holding Company, LLC (“Charter Holdco”), the direct parent of CCHC, LLC (“CCHC”), which is the direct parent of Charter Communications Holdings, LLC ("Charter Holdings"). Charter also holds certain preferred equity and indebtedness of Charter Holdco that mirror the terms of securities issued by Charter. Charter's only business is to act as the sole manager of Charter Holdco and its subsidiaries. As sole manager, Charter controls the affairs of Charter Holdco and its limited liability company subsidiaries.

Paul G. Allen controls Charter through an as-converted common equity interest of approximately 49% and a voting control interest of 91% as of December 31, 2006. He also owns 45% of Charter Holdco through affiliated entities. His membership units in Charter Holdco are convertible at any time for shares of our Class B common stock on a one-for-one basis, which shares are in turn convertible into Class A common stock. Each share of Class A common stock is entitled to one vote. Mr. Allen is entitled to ten votes for each share of Class B common stock and for each membership unit in Charter Holdco held by him and his affiliates.

Our principal executive offices are located at Charter Plaza, 12405 Powerscourt Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63131. Our telephone number is (314) 965-0555 and we have a website accessible at www.charter.com. Since January 1, 2002, our annual reports, quarterly reports and current reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments thereto, have been made available on our website free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after they have been filed. The information posted on our website is not incorporated into this annual report.
 
 
1

 
Certain Significant Developments in 2006
 
We continue to pursue opportunities to improve our liquidity. Our efforts in this regard have resulted in the completion of a number of financing and asset sales transactions in 2006, as follows:

 
·
the January 2006 sale by our subsidiaries, CCH II, LLC ("CCH II") and CCH II Capital Corp., of an additional $450 million principal amount of their 10.250% senior notes due 2010;
 
·
the April 2006 refinancing of our credit facilities; 
 
· 
the September 2006 exchange by our subsidiaries, Charter Holdings, CCH I, LLC (“CCH I”), CCH I Capital Corp., CCH II and CCH II Capital Corp., of approximately $797 million in total principal amount of outstanding debt securities of Charter Holdings in a private placement for CCH I and CCH II new debt securities (the “Private Exchange”);
 
·
the September 2006 exchange by us and our subsidiaries, CCHC, CCH II, and CCH II Capital Corp., of approximately $450 million in total principal amount of Charter’s 5.875% convertible senior notes due 2009 for cash, shares of Charter’s Class A common stock and CCH II new debt securities; and
 
·
the third quarter 2006 sales of certain cable television systems serving a total of approximately 390,300 analog video customers for a total sales price of approximately $1.0 billion. 
 
Recent Event

In February 2007, we engaged J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., Banc of America Securities LLC, and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. to arrange and syndicate a refinancing and expansion of our existing $6.85 billion senior secured credit facilities.  The proposed transaction includes $8.35 billion of senior secured credit facilities, consisting of a $1.5 billion revolving credit facility, a $1.5 billion new term facility, and a $5.0 billion refinancing term loan facility at Charter Communications Operating, LLC and a $350 million third lien term loan at CCO Holdings, LLC, (collectively, the “Transaction”). 

We expect to use a portion of the additional proceeds from the Transaction to redeem up to $550 million of our subsidiary, CCO Holdings, LLC’s outstanding floating rate notes due 2010 and up to $187 million of Charter Holdings' outstanding 8.625% senior notes due 2009 in addition to other general corporate purposes. We expect that we will enter into the credit facilities in March 2007.  Upon completion of the Transaction, we expect to have adequate liquidity to fund our operations and service our debt through 2008. 
 
Focus for 2007
 
We strive to provide value to our customers by offering a high-quality suite of services including video, high-speed Internet, and telephone service as well as advanced offerings including OnDemand video service, high-definition television service, and DVR service. We offer our services to encourage customers to subscribe to a combination of services known as a bundle. We offer a two-services bundle, which is a combination of two of our service offerings; but our main focus is marketing our three-services bundle, also called “Triple Play.” With a bundle, the customer receives a lower total price than the sum of the price of individual services, along with the convenience of a single bill. By continually focusing on the needs of our customers - raising customer service levels and investing in products and services they desire - our goal is to be the premier provider of in-home entertainment and communications services in the communities we serve.
 
In 2007, we expect to continue with the strategic priorities identified in 2006, which were to:
 
 
·
improve the end-to-end customer experience and increase customer loyalty;
 
·
grow sales and retention for all our products and services;
 
·
drive operating and capital effectiveness; and
 
·
continue an opportunistic approach to enhancing liquidity, extending maturities, and reducing debt.  
 
We strive to continually improve our customers’ experiences and, in doing so, to increase customer loyalty by instilling a service-oriented culture throughout our care centers, field service operations, and corporate support organization.

Charter markets its service offerings by employing a segmented, targeted marketing approach. We determine which marketing and sales programs are the most effective using campaign management tools that track, analyze, and report the results of our marketing campaigns.
 
2

 
We believe that customers value our ability to combine video, high-speed Internet, and telephone services into attractively priced bundled offerings that distinguish us from the competition. Bundling of services, by combining two or more Charter services for one value-based price, is fundamental to our marketing strategy because we believe bundled offerings increase customer acceptance of our services, and improve customer retention and satisfaction. We will pursue further growth in our customer base through targeted marketing of bundled services and continually improving the end-to-end customer experience.

During 2006, we extended the deployment of our telephone capabilities to approximately 3.9 million additional homes passed, to reach a total of approximately 6.8 million homes passed across our network, and we plan to extend to additional homes passed in 2007. During 2007, we plan to focus our marketing and sales efforts to attract additional customers to our telephone service, primarily through bundled offers with our video and high-speed Internet services.

In addition to serving and growing our residential customer base, we will increase efforts to make video, high-speed Internet and telephone services available to the business community. We believe that small businesses will find our bundled service offerings provide value and convenience, and that we can continue to grow this portion of our business.

We expect to continue a disciplined approach to managing capital expenditures by directing resources to initiatives and opportunities offering the highest expected returns. We anticipate placing a priority on supporting deployment of telephone service to residential and small business customers.

Our asset sales and operational initiatives in 2006 have improved the density of our geographic service areas and provided a more efficient operating platform. We operate an integrated customer care system to serve our customers.  We are deploying telephone service capability to the majority of our systems to more effectively leverage the capability of our broadband network, and are making a series of service improvement initiatives related to our technical operations. We expect our continuous improvement initiatives to further enhance the operating effectiveness and efficiencies of our operating platform.  We will also continue to evaluate our geographic service areas for opportunities to improve operating and capital efficiencies, through sales, exchanges of systems with other providers, and/or acquisitions of cable systems.

In 2007, we will continue to evaluate potential financial transactions that can enhance our liquidity, extend debt maturities, and/or reduce our debt.

We believe our focus on these strategic priorities will enable us to provide greater value to our customers and thereby generate future growth opportunities for us.
 
3

 
Corporate Organizational Structure 
 
The chart below sets forth our organizational structure and that of our direct and indirect subsidiaries. This chart does not include all of our affiliates and subsidiaries and, in some cases, we have combined separate entities for presentation purposes. The equity ownership, voting percentages, and indebtedness amounts shown below are approximations as of December 31, 2006, and do not give effect to any exercise, conversion or exchange of then outstanding options, preferred stock, convertible notes, and other convertible or exchangeable securities. Indebtedness amounts shown below are accreted values for financial reporting purposes as of December 31, 2006. See “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data,” which also includes the principal amount of the indebtedness described below.

 
 

4


 

(1)
 
Charter acts as the sole manager of Charter Holdco and its direct and indirect limited liability company subsidiaries. Charter’s certificate of incorporation requires that its principal assets be securities of Charter Holdco, the terms of which mirror the terms of securities issued by Charter. See “Item 1. Business — Corporate Organizational Structure — Charter Communications, Inc.” below.
 
   
(2)
 
These membership units are held by Charter Investment, Inc. (“CII”) and Vulcan Cable III Inc., each of which is 100% owned by Paul G. Allen, our chairman and controlling shareholder. They are exchangeable at any time on a one-for-one basis for shares of Charter Class B common stock, which in turn are exchangeable into Charter Class A common stock.
     
(3)
 
The percentages shown in this table reflect the 39.8 million shares of Class A common stock outstanding as of December 31, 2006 issued pursuant to the share lending agreement. However, for accounting purposes, Charter’s common equity interest in Charter Holdco is 52%, and Paul G. Allen’s ownership of Charter Holdco through CII and Vulcan Cable III Inc. is 48%. These percentages exclude the 39.8 million mirror membership units outstanding as of December 31, 2006 issued pursuant to the share lending agreement. See Note 13 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements contained in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
 
   
(4)
 
Represents preferred membership interests in CC VIII, LLC (“CC VIII”), a subsidiary of CC V Holdings, LLC, and an exchangeable accreting note issued by CCHC related to the settlement of the CC VIII dispute. See Note 10 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements contained in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
 
Charter Communications, Inc. Certain provisions of Charter’s certificate of incorporation and Charter Holdco’s limited liability company agreement effectively require that Charter’s investment in Charter Holdco replicate, on a “mirror” basis, Charter’s outstanding equity and debt structure. As a result of these coordinating provisions, whenever Charter issues equity or debt, Charter transfers the proceeds from such issuance to Charter Holdco, and Charter Holdco issues a “mirror” security to Charter that replicates the characteristics of the security issued by Charter. Consequently, Charter’s principal assets are an approximate 55% common equity interest (52% for accounting purposes) and a 100% voting interest in Charter Holdco, “mirror” notes that are payable by Charter Holdco to Charter that have the same principal amount and terms as Charter’s convertible senior notes and preferred units in Charter Holdco that mirror the terms and liquidation preferences of Charter’s outstanding preferred stock. Charter Holdco, through its subsidiaries, owns cable systems and certain strategic investments. As sole manager under applicable operating agreements, Charter controls the affairs of Charter Holdco and its limited liability company subsidiaries. In addition, Charter also provides management services to Charter Holdco and its subsidiaries under a management services agreement.

 

5


The following table sets forth information as of December 31, 2006 with respect to the shares of common stock of Charter on an actual outstanding, “as converted” and “fully diluted” basis:
 
 
Charter Communications, Inc.
             
Assuming Exchange of
   
 
Actual Shares Outstanding (a)
 
Charter Holdco Membership Units (b)
 
Fully Diluted Shares Outstanding (c)
                     
 
 
Number
 
 
 
Percentage
             
Number of
 
Percentage of
 
of Fully
 
of Fully
 
Number of
 
Percentage
     
As Converted
 
As Converted
 
Diluted
 
Diluted
 
Common
 
of Common
     
Common
 
Common
 
Common
 
Common
 
Shares
 
Shares
 
Voting
 
Shares
 
Shares
 
Shares
 
Shares
 
Outstanding
 
Outstanding
 
Percentage
 
Outstanding
 
Outstanding
 
Outstanding
 
Outstanding
                           
Class A Common Stock
407,994,585
 
99.99%
 
9.99%
 
407,994,585
 
54.61%
 
407,994,585
 
41.94%
Class B Common Stock
50,000
 
0.01%
 
90.01%
 
50,000
 
0.01%
 
50,000
 
*
Total Common Shares
Outstanding
408,044,585
 
100.00%
 
100.00%
               
 
                         
One-for-One Exchangeable Equity in Subsidiaries:
                         
Charter Investment, Inc.
           
222,818,858
 
29.82%
 
222,818,858
 
22.91%
Vulcan Cable III Inc.
           
116,313,173
 
15.56%
 
116,313,173
 
11.96%
                           
Total As Converted Shares Outstanding
           
747,176,616
 
100.00%
       
                           
Other Convertible Securities
                         
Charter Communications, Inc.:
                         
Convertible Preferred Stock (d)
                   
148,575
 
0.02%
Convertible Debt:
                         
5.875% Convertible Senior
Notes (e)
                   
170,454,545
 
17.52%
Employee, Director and
Consultant Stock Options (f)
                   
26,692,468
 
2.74%
CCHC:
                         
14% Exchangeable Accreting
Note (g)
                   
28,300,595
 
2.91%
                           
Fully Diluted Common Shares Outstanding
                   
972,772,799
 
100.00%
__________
* Less than .01%.
 
(a)
 
Paul G. Allen owns approximately 7% of Charter’s outstanding Class A common stock (approximately 49% assuming the exchange by Mr. Allen of all units in Charter Holdco held by him and his affiliates for shares of Charter Class B common stock, which are in turn convertible into Class A common stock) and beneficially controls approximately 91% of the voting power of Charter’s capital stock. Mr. Allen is entitled to ten votes for each share of Class B common stock held by him and his affiliates and for each membership unit in Charter Holdco held by him and his affiliates.
 
   
(b)
 
Assumes only the exchange of Charter Holdco membership units held by Mr. Allen and his affiliates for shares of Charter Class B common stock on a one-for-one basis pursuant to exchange agreements between the holders of such units and Charter, which shares are in turn convertible into Class A common stock. Does not include shares issuable on conversion or exercise of any other convertible securities, including stock options, convertible notes and convertible preferred stock.
 
   
(c)
 
Represents “fully diluted” common shares outstanding, assuming exercise, exchange or conversion of all outstanding options and exchangeable or convertible securities, including the exchangeable membership units described in note (b) above, all shares of Charter Series A convertible redeemable preferred stock, the 14% CCHC exchangeable accreting note, all outstanding 5.875% convertible senior notes of Charter, and all employee, director and consultant stock options.


6


(d)
 
Reflects common shares issuable upon conversion of the 36,713 shares of Series A convertible redeemable preferred stock. Such shares have a current liquidation preference of approximately $4 million and are convertible at any time into shares of Class A common stock at an initial conversion price of $24.71 per share (or 4.0469446 shares of Class A common stock for each share of convertible redeemable preferred stock), subject to certain adjustments.
     
(e)
 
Reflects shares issuable upon conversion of all outstanding 5.875% convertible senior notes ($413 million total principal amount), which are convertible into shares of Class A common stock at an initial conversion rate of 413.2231 shares of Class A common stock per $1,000 principal amount of notes (or approximately $2.42 per share), subject to certain adjustments.
     
(f)
 
The weighted average exercise price of outstanding stock options was $3.88 as of December 31, 2006.
     
(g)
 
Mr. Allen, through his wholly owned subsidiary CII, holds an accreting note (the “CCHC note”) that as of December 31, 2006 is exchangeable for Charter Holdco units. The CCHC note has a 15-year maturity. The CCHC note has an initial accreted value of $48 million accreting at 14% compounded quarterly, except that from and after February 28, 2009, CCHC may pay any increase in the accreted value of the CCHC note in cash and the accreted value of the CCHC note will not increase to the extent such amount is paid in cash. The CCHC note is exchangeable at CII’s option, at any time, for Charter Holdco Class A common units, which are exchangeable into shares of Charter Class B common stock, which shares are in turn convertible into Class A common stock, at a rate equal to the then accreted value, divided by $2.00. See Note 10 to our accompanying consolidated financial statements contained in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
 
Charter Communications Holding Company, LLC. Charter Holdco, a Delaware limited liability company formed on May 25, 1999, is the direct 100% parent of CCHC. The common membership units of Charter Holdco are owned approximately 55% by Charter, 15% by Vulcan Cable III Inc. and 30% by CII. All of the outstanding common membership units in Charter Holdco held by Vulcan Cable III Inc. and CII are controlled by Mr. Allen and are exchangeable on a one-for-one basis at any time for shares of Class B common stock of Charter, which are in turn convertible into Class A common stock of Charter. Charter controls 100% of the voting power of Charter Holdco and is its sole manager.
 
Certain provisions of Charter’s certificate of incorporation and Charter Holdco’s limited liability company agreement effectively require that Charter’s investment in Charter Holdco replicate, on a “mirror” basis, Charter’s outstanding equity and debt structure. As a result, in addition to its equity interest in common units of Charter Holdco, Charter also holds 100% of the 5.875% mirror convertible notes of Charter Holdco that automatically convert into common membership units upon the conversion of any Charter 5.875% convertible senior notes and 100% of the mirror preferred membership units of Charter Holdco that automatically convert into common membership units upon the conversion of the Series A convertible redeemable preferred stock of Charter.
 
CCHC, LLC. CCHC, a Delaware limited liability company formed on October 25, 2005, is the issuer of an exchangeable accreting note. In October 2005, Charter, acting through a Special Committee of Charter’s Board of Directors, and Mr. Allen, settled a dispute that had arisen between the parties with regard to the ownership of CC VIII. As part of that settlement, CCHC issued the CCHC note to CII.
 
Interim Holding Company Debt Issuers. As indicated in the organizational chart above, our interim holding company debt issuers indirectly own the subsidiaries that own or operate all of our cable systems, subject to a CC VIII minority interest held by Mr. Allen and CCH I as described below. For a description of the debt issued by these issuers please see “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Description of Our Outstanding Debt.”
 
Preferred Equity in CC VIII, LLC. CII owns 30% of the CC VIII preferred membership interests. CCH I, a direct subsidiary of CCH I Holdings, LLC (“CIH”), directly owns the remaining 70% of these preferred interests. The common membership interests in CC VIII are indirectly owned by Charter Operating. See Notes 11 and 22 to our accompanying consolidated financial statements contained in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
 
7

 
Products and Services 
 
We sell video services, high-speed Internet services, and in many areas, telephone services utilizing our cable system. Our video services include traditional cable video services (analog and digital) and in some areas advanced broadband services such as high definition television, OnDemand, and DVR. Our telephone services are primarily provided using voice over Internet protocol (“VoIP”), to transmit digital voice signals over our systems. Our video, high-speed Internet, and telephone services are offered to residential and commercial customers. We sell our video services, high-speed Internet, and telephone services on a subscription basis, with prices and related charges that vary primarily based on the types of service selected, whether the services are sold as a “bundle” or on an individual basis, and the equipment necessary to receive the services, with some variation in prices depending on geographic location.
 
The following table summarizes our customer statistics for analog and digital video, residential high-speed Internet and residential telephone approximate as of December 31, 2006 and 2005.
 
   
Approximate as of
 
   
December 31,
 
December 31,
 
   
2006 (a)
 
2005 (a)
 
           
Video Services:
             
Analog Video:
             
Residential (non-bulk) analog video customers (b)
   
5,172,300
   
5,616,300
 
Multi-dwelling (bulk) and commercial unit customers (c)
   
261,000
   
268,200
 
Total analog video customers (b)(c)
   
5,433,300
   
5,884,500
 
               
Digital Video:
             
Digital video customers (d)
   
2,808,400
   
2,796,600
 
               
Non-Video Services:
             
Residential high-speed Internet customers (e)
   
2,402,200
   
2,196,400
 
Residential telephone customers (f)
   
445,800
   
121,500
 

After giving effect to the acquisition of cable systems in January 2006 and the sales of certain non-strategic cable systems in the third quarter of 2006, December 31, 2005 analog video customers, digital video customers, high-speed Internet customers and telephone customers would have been 5,506,800, 2,638,500, 2,097,700 and 136,000, respectively.

 
(a)
“Customers” include all persons our corporate billing records show as receiving service (regardless of their payment status), except for complimentary accounts (such as our employees). In addition, at December 31, 2006 and 2005, “customers” include approximately 35,700 and 50,500 persons whose accounts were over 60 days past due in payment, approximately 6,000 and 14,300 persons, whose accounts were over 90 days past due in payment and approximately 2,700 and 7,400 of which were over 120 days past due in payment, respectively.  

 
(b)
“Analog video customers” include all customers who receive video services.

 
(c)
Included within “video customers” are those in commercial and multi-dwelling structures, which are calculated on an equivalent bulk unit (“EBU”) basis. EBU is calculated for a system by dividing the bulk price charged to accounts in an area by the most prevalent price charged to non-bulk residential customers in that market for the comparable tier of service. The EBU method of estimating analog video customers is consistent with the methodology used in determining costs paid to programmers and has been used consistently.

 
(d)
“Digital video customers” include all households that have one or more digital set-top boxes or cable cards deployed.

 
(e)
"Residential high-speed Internet customers" represent those residential customers who subscribe to our high-speed Internet service.
 
 
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(f)
“Residential telephone customers” include all residential customers receiving telephone service.
 
Video Services
 
In 2006, video services represented 61% of our total revenues. Our video service offerings include the following:
 
 
 
Basic Analog Video. All of our video customers receive a package of basic programming which generally consists of local broadcast television, local community programming, including governmental and public access, and limited satellite-delivered or non-broadcast channels, such as weather, shopping and religious services. Our basic channel line-up generally has between 9 and 30 channels.
 
     
 
 
Expanded Basic Video. This expanded programming level includes a package of satellite-delivered or non-broadcast channels and generally has between 20 and 60 channels in addition to the basic channel line-up.
 
     
 
 
Digital Video. We offer digital video service to our customers in several different service combination packages. All of our digital packages include a digital set-top box or cable card, an interactive electronic programming guide, an expanded menu of pay-per-view channels, and the option to also receive digital packages which range generally from 3 to 45 additional video channels. We also offer our customers certain digital packages with one or more premium channels that give customers access to several alternative genres of certain premium channels (for example, HBO Family® and HBO Comedy®). Some digital tier packages focus on the interests of a particular customer demographic and emphasize, for example, sports, movies, family, or ethnic programming. In addition to video programming, digital video service enables customers to receive our advanced services such as OnDemand and high definition television. Other digital packages bundle digital television with our advanced services, such as high-speed Internet services and telephone services.
       
 
 
Premium Channels. These channels provide original programming, commercial-free movies, sports, and other special event entertainment programming. Although we offer subscriptions to premium channels on an individual basis, we offer an increasing number of digital video channel packages and premium channel packages, and we offer premium channels bundled with our advanced services.
 
     
 
 
Pay-Per-View. These channels allow customers to pay on a per event basis to view a single showing of a recently released movie, a one-time special sporting event, music concert, or similar event on a commercial-free basis.
       
 
 
OnDemand and Subscription OnDemand. OnDemand service allows customers to access hundreds of movies and other programming at any time with digital picture quality. In some systems we also offer subscription OnDemand for a monthly fee or included in a digital tier premium channel subscription.
       
 
 
High Definition Television. High definition television offers our digital customers certain video programming at a higher resolution to improve picture quality versus standard analog or digital video images.
       
 
 
Digital Video Recorder. DVR service enables customers to digitally record programming and to pause and rewind live programming.
 
High-Speed Internet Services
 
In 2006, residential high-speed Internet services represented 19% of our total revenues. We offer several tiers of high-speed Internet services to our residential customers primarily via cable modems attached to personal computers. We also offer home networking gateways to these customers.
 
Telephone Services
 
In 2006, telephone services represented 2% of our total revenues. We provide voice communications services primarily using VoIP, to transmit digital voice signals over our systems. At December 31, 2006, telephone service was available to approximately 6.8 million homes passed, and we were marketing these services to approximately 93% of those homes. We will continue to prepare additional markets for telephone launches in 2007.
 

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Commercial Services
 
In 2006, commercial services represented 6% of our total revenues. We offer integrated network solutions to commercial and institutional customers. These solutions include high-speed Internet and video services. In addition, we offer high-speed Internet services to small businesses. We will continue to expand the marketing of our video and high-speed Internet services to the business community and have begun to introduce telephone services.
 
Sale of Advertising
 
In 2006, sale of advertising represented 6% of our total revenues. We receive revenues from the sale of local advertising on satellite-delivered networks such as MTV®, CNN® and ESPN®. In any particular market, we generally insert local advertising on up to 40 channels. We also provide cross-channel advertising to some programmers.
 
From time to time, certain of our vendors, including programmers and equipment vendors, have purchased advertising from us. For the years ending December 31, 2006, 2005 and 2004, we had advertising revenues from programmers of approximately $17 million, $15 million, and $16 million, respectively. These revenues resulted from purchases at market rates pursuant to binding agreements.
 
Pricing of Our Products and Services 
 
Our revenues are derived principally from the monthly fees customers pay for the services we offer. We typically charge a one-time installation fee which is sometimes waived or discounted during certain promotional periods. The prices we charge for our products and services vary based on the level of service the customer chooses and the geographic market. Most of our pricing is reviewed throughout the year and adjusted on an annual basis.
 
In accordance with the Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC”) rules, the prices we charge for video cable-related equipment, such as set-top boxes and remote control devices, and for installation services, are based on actual costs plus a permitted rate of return in regulated markets.
 
Although our broadband service offerings vary across the markets we serve because of various factors including competition, regulatory factors, and service availability, our services are typically offered at monthly prices, excluding franchise fees and other taxes.

We offer reduced-price service for promotional periods in order to attract new customers and to promote the bundling of two or more services. There is no assurance that these customers will remain as customers when the promotional pricing service expires. When customers bundle services, they enjoy prices that are lower per service than if they had only purchased a single service.
 
Our Network Technology 
 
We employ the hybrid fiber coaxial cable (“HFC”) architecture for our systems. HFC architecture combines the use of fiber optic cable with coaxial cable. In most systems, we deliver our signals via fiber optic cable from the headend to a group of nodes, and use coaxial cable to deliver the signal from individual nodes to the homes passed served by that node. Our system design enables a maximum of 500 homes passed to be served by a single node. Currently, our average node serves approximately 385 homes passed. Our system design provides for six strands of fiber to each node, with two strands activated and four strands reserved for spares and future services. We believe that this hybrid network design provides high capacity and signal quality. The design also provides reserve capacity for the addition of future services.
 
HFC architecture benefits include:
 
 
 
bandwidth capacity to enable traditional and two-way video and broadband services;
 
     
 
 
dedicated bandwidth for two-way services, which avoids reverse signal interference problems that can occur with two-way communication capability; and
 
     
 
 
clean signal quality and high service reliability.

 
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The following table sets forth the technological capacity of our systems as of December 31, 2006 based on a percentage of homes passed:
 
Less than 550
 
 
 
750
 
860/870
 
Two-way
megahertz
 
550 megahertz
 
megahertz
 
megahertz
 
activated
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7%
 
5%
 
41%
 
47%
 
93%
 
Approximately 93% of our homes passed are served by systems that have bandwidth of 550 megahertz or greater. This bandwidth capacity enables us to offer digital television, high-speed Internet services, telephone service and other advanced services.
 
We have reduced the number of headends that serve our customers from 1,138 at January 1, 2001 to 553 at December 31, 2006. Because headends are the control centers of a cable system, where incoming signals are amplified, converted, processed and combined for transmission to the customer, reducing the number of headends reduces related equipment, service personnel, and maintenance expenditures. As of December 31, 2006, approximately 88% of our customers were served by headends serving at least 10,000 customers. After completion of the sale of certain cable systems in January 2007, we further reduced the number of headends that serve our customers to 393.
 
As of December 31, 2006, our cable systems consisted of approximately 205,500 strand and trench miles of coax, and approximately 54,300 strand and trench miles of fiber optic cable, passing approximately 11.8 million households and serving approximately 5.7 million customers. After completion of the sale of certain cable systems in January 2007, our cable systems consisted of approximately 201,700 strand and trench miles of coax, and approximately 54,100 strand and trench miles of fiber optic cable, passing approximately 11.7 million households and serving approximately 5.7 million customers.
 
Management of Our Systems 
 
The corporate office, which includes employees of Charter and Charter Holdco, is responsible for coordinating and overseeing overall operations including establishing company wide policies and procedures. The corporate office performs certain financial and administrative functions on a centralized basis such as accounting, cash management, taxes, billing, finance, human resources, risk management, telephone, payroll, information system design and support, internal audit, legal, purchasing, customer care, marketing and programming contract administration and Internet service, network and circuits administration and oversight and coordination of external auditors and consultants. The corporate office performs these services on a cost reimbursement basis pursuant to a management services agreement. Our field operations are managed within three divisions. Each division has a divisional president and is supported by operational, financial, legal, customer care, marketing and engineering functions.
 
Customer Care 
 
Our customer care centers are managed centrally, with the deployment and execution of care strategies and initiatives conducted on a company-wide basis. As a result of facilities consolidations that occurred in 2006, we have seven customer care locations, compared to the thirteen locations at December 31, 2005 and have launched technology and procedures resulting in the seven locations being able to function as an integrated system. We believe that consolidation and integration of our care centers will allow us to improve service delivery and customer satisfaction.

We provide service to our customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and utilize technologically advanced equipment that we believe enhances interactions with our customers through more intelligent call routing, data management, and forecasting and scheduling capabilities. We believe that through continued optimization of our care network we will be able to improve complaint resolution, equipment troubleshooting, sales of new and additional services, and customer retention.

We are committed to making further improvements in the area of customer care to increase customer retention and satisfaction. Accordingly, we have certain initiatives underway targeted at gaining new customers and retaining existing ones. We have increased efforts to focus management attention on instilling a customer service oriented culture throughout our organization, and to give the customer service areas of our operations resources for staffing, training, and financial incentives for employee performance.
 
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We have agreements with three third party call center service providers. We believe these relationships further our service objectives and support marketing activities by providing additional capacity to respond to customer inquiries.

We also utilize our website to enhance customer care by enabling customers to view and pay their bills online, obtain useful information, and perform various equipment troubleshooting procedures. Our customers may also obtain support through our on-line chat and email functionality.

Sales and Marketing

In 2006, our primary strategic direction was to accelerate the rate of revenue growth by increasing our investments in marketing, sustaining these higher investments throughout the year, and implementing targeted marketing programs designed to offer appropriate bundles of products to the appropriate existing and potential customers. Marketing expenditures increased by $38 million, or 27%, over the year ended December 31, 2005 to $180 million for the year ended December 31, 2006. We expect to continue to invest in targeted marketing efforts in 2007.

Our marketing organization is intended to promote interaction, information flow, and sharing of best practices between our corporate office and our field offices, which make local decisions as to when and how certain marketing programs will be implemented.  We monitor customer perception, competition, pricing, and service preferences, among other factors, to increase our responsiveness to our customers. Our coordinated marketing activities involve door-to-door, telemarketing, media advertising, e-marketing, direct mail, and retail locations. In 2006, we increased our focus on migrating existing single service customers into multiple service bundles and launching our telephone service.
 
Programming 
 
General
 
We believe that offering a wide variety of programming influences a customer’s decision to subscribe to and retain our cable services. We rely on market research, customer demographics and local programming preferences to determine channel offerings in each of our markets. We obtain basic and premium programming from a number of suppliers, usually pursuant to written contracts. Our programming contracts generally continue for a fixed period of time, usually from three to ten years, and are subject to negotiated renewal. Some program suppliers offer financial incentives to support the launch of a channel and/or ongoing marketing support. We also negotiate volume discount pricing structures. Programming costs are usually payable each month based on calculations performed by us and are generally subject to annual cost escalations and audits by the programmers.
 
Costs
 
Programming is usually made available to us for a license fee, which is generally paid based on the number of customers to whom we make such programming available. Such license fees may include “volume” discounts available for higher numbers of customers, as well as discounts for channel placement or service penetration. Some channels are available without cost to us for a limited period of time, after which we pay for the programming. For home shopping channels, we receive a percentage of the revenue attributable to our customers’ purchases.
 
Our cable programming costs have increased in every year we have operated in excess of customary inflationary and cost-of-living type increases. We expect them to continue to increase due to a variety of factors, including annual increases imposed by programmers and additional programming, including high-definition and OnDemand programming, being provided to customers. In particular, sports programming costs have increased significantly over the past several years. In addition, contracts to purchase sports programming sometimes provide for optional additional programming to be available on a surcharge basis during the term of the contract.
 
Federal law allows commercial television broadcast stations to make an election between “must-carry” rights and an alternative “retransmission-consent” regime. When a station opts for the retransmission-consent regime, we are not allowed to carry the station’s signal without the station’s permission. Future demands by owners of broadcast stations for carriage of other services or cash payments to those broadcasters in exchange for retransmission consent could further increase our programming costs or require us to cease carriage of popular programming, potentially leading to a loss of customers in affected markets.
 
 
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Over the past several years, we have not been able to increase prices sufficiently to fully offset increased programming costs, and with the impact of competition and other marketplace factors, we do not expect to be able to do so in the foreseeable future. In addition, our inability to fully pass these programming cost increases on to our customers has had and is expected in the future to have an adverse impact on our cash flow and operating margins. In order to mitigate reductions of our operating margins due to rapidly increasing programming costs, we are reviewing our pricing and programming packaging strategies, and we plan to continue to migrate certain program services from our analog level of service to our digital tiers. As we migrate our programming to our digital tier packages, certain programming that was previously available to all of our customers via an analog signal, may only be part of an elective digital tier package offered to our customers for an additional fee. As a result, we expect that the customer base upon which we pay programming fees will proportionately decrease, and the overall expense for providing that service will likewise decrease. However, reductions in the size of certain programming customer bases may result in the loss of specific volume discount benefits.

We have programming contracts that have expired and others that will expire at or before the end of 2007. We plan to seek to renegotiate the terms of these agreements as they come due for renewal. There can be no assurance that these agreements will be renewed on favorable or comparable terms. To the extent that we are unable to reach agreement with certain programmers on terms that we believe are reasonable, we have been, and may in the future be, forced to remove such programming channels from our line-up, which may result in a loss of customers.
 
Franchises 
 
As of December 31, 2006, our systems operated pursuant to a total of approximately 3,600 franchises, permits, and similar authorizations issued by local and state governmental authorities. Such governmental authorities often must approve a transfer to another party. Most franchises are subject to termination proceedings in the event of a material breach. In addition, most franchises require us to pay the granting authority a franchise fee of up to 5.0% of revenues as defined in the various agreements, which is the maximum amount that may be charged under the applicable federal law. We are entitled to and generally do pass this fee through to the customer.
 
Prior to the scheduled expiration of most franchises, we generally initiate renewal proceedings with the granting authorities. This process usually takes three years but can take a longer period of time. The Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the “Communications Act”), which is the primary federal statute regulating interstate communications, provides for an orderly franchise renewal process in which granting authorities may not unreasonably withhold renewals. In connection with the franchise renewal process, many governmental authorities require the cable operator to make certain commitments, such as building out certain of the franchise areas at various levels of service requirements and allowing for public access channels. Historically we have been able to renew our franchises without incurring significant costs, although any particular franchise may not be renewed on commercially favorable terms or otherwise. Our failure to obtain renewals of our franchises, especially those in the major metropolitan areas where we have the most customers, could have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations, or our liquidity, including our ability to comply with our debt covenants. Approximately 12% of our franchises, covering approximately 15% of our analog video customers were expired at December 31, 2006. Approximately 8% of additional franchises, covering approximately 11% of additional analog video customers will expire on or before December 31, 2007, if not renewed prior to expiration. We expect to renew all or substantially all of these franchises.
 
Legislative proposals have been introduced in the United States Congress and in some state legislatures to streamline cable franchising. This legislation is intended to facilitate entry by new competitors, particularly local telephone companies. See “— Regulation and Legislation — Video Services — Franchise Matters.”
 
Competition 
 
We face competition in the areas of price, service offerings, and service reliability. We compete with other providers of television signals and other sources of home entertainment. In addition, as we continue to expand into additional services such as high-speed Internet access and telephone, we face competition from other providers of each type of service. We operate in a very competitive business environment, which can adversely affect our business and operations.
 
In terms of competition for customers, we view ourselves as a member of the broadband communications industry, which encompasses multi-channel video for television and related broadband services, such as high-speed Internet, telephone, and other interactive video services. In the broadband industry, our principal competitor for video services throughout our territory is direct broadcast satellite (“DBS”) and our principal competitor for high-speed
 
 
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Internet services is digital subscriber line (“DSL”) provided by telephone companies. Our principal competitors for telephone services are established telephone companies and other carriers, including VoIP providers. Based on telephone companies’ entry into video service and the upgrades of their networks, they will likely become increasingly more significant competitors for both high-speed Internet and video customers. We do not consider other cable operators to be significant competitors in our overall market, as overbuilds are infrequent and geographically spotty (although in any particular market, a cable operator overbuilder would likely be a significant competitor at the local level).
 
Although cable operators tend not to be direct competitors, their relative size may affect the competitive landscape in terms of how a cable company competes against non-cable competitors in the market place as well as in relationships with vendors who deal with cable operators. For example, a larger cable operator might have better access to and pricing for the multiple types of services cable companies offer. Also, a larger entity might have more advantageous access to financial resources and acquisition opportunities.
 
Our key competitors include:
 
DBS 
 
Direct broadcast satellite is a significant competitor to cable systems. The DBS industry has grown rapidly over the last several years, and now serves more than 27 million subscribers nationwide. DBS service allows the subscriber to receive video services directly via satellite using a dish antenna. Furthermore, EchoStar and DirecTV both have entered into joint marketing agreements with major telecommunications companies to offer bundled packages combining telephone, including wireless, as well as high-speed Internet and video services.

Video compression technology and high powered satellites allow DBS providers to offer more than 200 digital channels from a single satellite, thereby surpassing the typical analog cable system. In 2006, major DBS competitors offered a greater variety of channel packages, and were especially competitive at the lower end pricing, such as a monthly price of approximately $35 for 60 channels compared to approximately $50 for the closest comparable package offered by us in most of our markets. In addition, while we continue to believe that the initial investment by a DBS customer exceeds that of a cable customer, the initial equipment cost for DBS has decreased substantially, as the DBS providers have aggressively marketed offers to new customers of incentives for discounted or free equipment, installation, and multiple units. DBS providers are able to offer service nationwide and are able to establish a national image and branding with standardized offerings, which together with their ability to avoid franchise fees of up to 5% of revenues and property tax, leads to greater efficiencies and lower costs in the lower tiers of service. However, we believe that cable-delivered OnDemand and Subscription OnDemand services are superior to DBS service, because cable headends can store thousands of titles which customers can access and control independently, whereas DBS technology can only make available a much smaller number of titles with DVR-like customer control. We also believe that our higher tier services, particularly bundled premium packages, are price-competitive with DBS packages, and that many consumers prefer our ability to economically bundle video packages with high-speed Internet packages. Further, cable providers have the potential in some areas to provide a more complete “whole house” communications package when combining video, high-speed Internet, and telephone services. We believe that this ability to bundle services differentiates us from DBS competitors and could enable us to win back former customers who migrated to satellite. However, joint marketing arrangements between DBS providers and telecommunications carriers allow similar bundling of services in certain areas, and DBS providers are making investments to offer more high definition programming, including local high definition programming. Competition from DBS service providers may also present greater challenges in areas of lower population density, and we believe that our systems serve a higher concentration of such areas than those of other major cable service providers.

DBS providers have made attempts at widespread deployment of high-speed Internet access services via satellite, but those services have been technically constrained and of limited appeal. DBS providers continue to explore options, such as combining satellite communications with terrestrial wireless networks, to provide high-speed Internet and other services. DBS providers have entered into joint marketing arrangements with telecommunications carriers allowing them to offer terrestrial DSL services in many markets.
 
Telephone Companies and Utilities
 
The competitive environment has been significantly affected by technological developments and regulatory changes enacted under the Telecommunication Act of 1996 (the “1996 Telecom Act”), which amended the Communications Act and which is designed to enhance competition in the cable television and local telephone markets. Federal
 
 
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cross-ownership restrictions historically limited entry by local telephone companies into the cable business. The 1996 Telecom Act modified this cross-ownership restriction, making it possible for local exchange carriers, who have considerable resources, to provide a wide variety of video services competitive with services offered by cable systems.
 
Telephone companies already provide facilities for the transmission and distribution of voice and data services, including Internet services, in competition with our existing or potential interactive services ventures and businesses. Telephone companies can obtain the right to lawfully enter the cable television business and some telephone companies have been extensively upgrading their networks to provide video services, as well as telephone and Internet access service.

Two major local telephone companies, AT&T Inc. (“AT&T”) and Verizon Communications, Inc. (“Verizon”), have both announced that they intend to invest in upgrading their networks. Some upgraded portions of these networks are or will be capable of carrying two-way video services that are technically comparable to ours, high-speed Internet services that operate at speeds as high as or higher than those we make available to customers in these areas, and digital voice services that are similar to ours. In addition, these companies continue to offer their traditional telephone services, as well as bundles that include wireless voice services provided by affiliated companies. We believe that AT&T’s and Verizon’s upgrades have been completed in systems representing approximately 1% of our homes passed as of December 31, 2006. Additional upgrades in markets in which we operate are expected.

Although telephone companies have obtained franchises or alternative authorizations in some areas and are seeking them in others, they are attempting through various means (including federal and state legislation and through FCC rulemaking) to weaken or streamline the franchising requirements applicable to them. If telephone companies are successful in avoiding or weakening the franchise and other regulatory requirements that are applicable to cable operators like Charter, their competitive posture would be enhanced. We cannot predict the likelihood of success of the broadband services offered by our competitors or the impact on us of such competitive ventures. The large scale entry of major telephone companies as direct competitors in the video marketplace could adversely affect the profitability and valuation of established cable systems.

DSL service allows Internet access to subscribers at data transmission speeds greater than those available over conventional telephone lines. DSL service therefore is more competitive with high-speed Internet access over cable systems than conventional dial-up. Most telephone companies which already have plant, an existing customer base, and other operational functions in place (such as, billing, service personnel, etc.), offer DSL service. DSL actively markets its service, and many providers have offered promotional pricing with a one-year service agreement. The FCC has determined that DSL service is an “information service,” and based on that classification has removed DSL service from many traditional telecommunications regulations. Legislative action and the FCC's decisions and policies in this area are subject to change. We expect DSL to remain a significant competitor to our high-speed Internet services, particularly as we enter the telephone business and telephone companies aggressively bundle DSL with telephone service to discourage their customers from switching to cable company services. In addition, the continuing deployment of fiber into telephone companies’ networks will enable them to provide higher bandwidth Internet service than provided over traditional DSL lines.

We believe that pricing for residential and commercial Internet services on our system is generally comparable to that for similar DSL services and that some residential customers prefer our ability to bundle Internet services with video and/or telephone services, and prefer the higher Internet speeds we have made more generally available. However, DSL providers may currently be in a better position to offer data services to businesses since their networks tend to be more complete in commercial areas. They also have the ability to bundle telephone with Internet services for a higher percentage of their customers, and that ability is appealing to many consumers. Joint marketing arrangements between DSL providers and DBS providers may allow some additional bundling of services.

Charter offers telephone service in a majority of its service areas. Charter also provides traditional circuit-switched telephone service in a few communities. In these areas, Charter competes directly with established telephone companies and other carriers, including VoIP providers, for voice service customers. Because we offer voice services, we are subject to considerable competition from telephone companies and other telecommunications providers. The telecommunications industry is highly competitive and includes competitors with greater financial and personnel resources, strong brand name recognition, and long-standing relationships with regulatory authorities and customers. Moreover, mergers, joint ventures and alliances among franchise, wireless, or private cable operators, local exchange carriers, and others, may result in providers capable of offering cable television, Internet, and telephone services in direct competition with us. For example, major local exchange carriers have entered into
 
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arrangements with EchoStar and DirecTV in which they will market packages combining telephone service, DSL, and DBS services.

Additionally, we are subject to competition from utilities which possess fiber optic transmission lines capable of transmitting signals with minimal signal distortion. Utilities are also developing broadband over power line technology, which may allow the provision of Internet and other broadband services to homes and offices. Utilities have deployed broadband over power line technology in a few limited markets.
 
Broadcast Television
 
Cable television has long competed with broadcast television, which consists of television signals that the viewer is able to receive without charge using an “off-air” antenna. The extent of such competition is dependent upon the quality and quantity of broadcast signals available through “off-air” reception, compared to the services provided by the local cable system. Traditionally, cable television has provided higher picture quality and more channel offerings than broadcast television. However, the recent licensing of digital spectrum by the FCC will provide traditional broadcasters with the ability to deliver high definition television pictures and multiple digital-quality program streams, as well as advanced digital services such as subscription video and data transmission.
 
Traditional Overbuilds
 
Cable systems are operated under non-exclusive franchises granted by local authorities. More than one cable system may legally be built in the same area. It is possible that a franchising authority might grant a second franchise to another cable operator and that such a franchise might contain terms and conditions more favorable than those afforded us. In addition, entities willing to establish an open video system, under which they offer unaffiliated programmers non-discriminatory access to a portion of the system’s cable system, may be able to avoid local franchising requirements. Well-financed businesses from outside the cable industry, such as public utilities that already possess fiber optic and other transmission lines in the areas they serve, may over time become competitors. There are a number of cities that have constructed their own cable systems, in a manner similar to city-provided utility services. There also has been interest in traditional cable overbuilds by private companies. Constructing a competing cable system is a capital intensive process which involves a high degree of risk. We believe that in order to be successful, a competitor’s overbuild would need to be able to serve the homes and businesses in the overbuilt area with equal or better service quality, on a more cost-effective basis than we can. Any such overbuild operation would require either significant access to capital or access to facilities already in place that are capable of delivering cable television programming.
 
As of December 31, 2006, we are aware of traditional overbuild situations impacting approximately 7% of our total homes passed and potential traditional overbuild situations in areas servicing approximately an additional 4% of our total homes passed. Additional overbuild situations may occur.
 
Private Cable
 
Additional competition is posed by satellite master antenna television systems, or SMATV systems, serving multiple dwelling units, or MDUs, such as condominiums, apartment complexes, and private residential communities. These private cable systems may enter into exclusive agreements with such MDUs, which may preclude operators of franchise systems from serving residents of such private complexes. Private cable systems can offer improved reception of local television stations, and many of the same satellite-delivered program services that are offered by cable systems. SMATV systems currently benefit from operating advantages not available to franchised cable systems, including fewer regulatory burdens and no requirement to service low density or economically depressed communities. Exemption from regulation may provide a competitive advantage to certain of our current and potential competitors.
 
Wireless Distribution
 
Cable systems also compete with wireless program distribution services such as multi-channel multipoint distribution systems or “wireless cable,” known as MMDS, which uses low-power microwave frequencies to transmit television programming over-the-air to paying customers. MMDS services, however, require unobstructed “line of sight” transmission paths, and MMDS ventures have been quite limited to date.
 
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The FCC has completed its auction of Multichannel Video Distribution & Data Service (“MVDDS”) licenses. MVDDS is a new terrestrial video and data fixed wireless service that the FCC hopes will spur competition in the cable and DBS industries.

Other Competitors

Local wireless Internet services have recently begun to operate in many markets using available unlicensed radio spectrum. Some cellular phone service operators are also marketing PC cards offering wireless broadband access to their cellular networks. These service options offer another alternative to cable-based Internet access.

High-speed Internet access facilitates the streaming of video into homes and businesses. As the quality and availability of video streaming over the Internet improves, video streaming likely will compete with the traditional delivery of video programming services over cable systems. It is possible that programming suppliers will consider bypassing cable operators and market their services directly to the consumer through video streaming over the Internet.
 
Regulation and Legislation 
 
The following summary addresses the key regulatory and legislative developments affecting the cable industry and our three primary services: video service, high-speed Internet service, and telephone service. Cable system operations are extensively regulated by the FCC, certain state governments, and most local governments. A failure to comply with these regulations could subject us to substantial penalties. Our business can be dramatically impacted by changes to the existing regulatory framework, whether triggered by legislative, administrative, or judicial rulings. Congress and the FCC have expressed a particular interest in increasing competition in the communications field generally and in the cable television field specifically. The 1996 Telecom Act altered the regulatory structure governing the nation's communications providers. It removed barriers to competition in both the cable television market and the local telephone market. At the same time, the FCC has pursued spectrum licensing options designed to increase competition to the cable industry by wireless multichannel video programming distributors. We could be materially disadvantaged in the future if we are subject to new regulations that do not equally impact our key competitors.

Congress and the FCC have frequently revisited the subject of communications regulation, and they are likely to do so in the future. In addition, franchise agreements with local governments must be periodically renewed, and new operating terms may be imposed. Future legislative, regulatory, or judicial changes could adversely affect our operations. We can provide no assurance that the already extensive regulation of our business will not be expanded in the future.

Video Service

Cable Rate Regulation. The cable industry has operated under a federal rate regulation regime for more than a decade. The regulations currently restrict the prices that cable systems charge for the minimum level of video programming service, referred to as “basic service,” and associated equipment. All other cable offerings are now universally exempt from rate regulation. Although basic rate regulation operates pursuant to a federal formula, local governments, commonly referred to as local franchising authorities, are primarily responsible for administering this regulation. The majority of our local franchising authorities have never been certified to regulate basic cable rates (and order rate reductions and refunds), but they retain the right to do so, except in those specific communities facing “effective competition,” as defined under federal law. With increased DBS competition, our systems are increasingly likely to satisfy the effective competition standard. We have already secured FCC recognition of effective competition, and become rate deregulated in many of our communities.

There have been frequent calls to impose expanded rate regulation on the cable industry. Confronted with rapidly increasing cable programming costs, it is possible that Congress may adopt new constraints on the retail pricing or packaging of cable programming. For example, there has been considerable legislative and regulatory interest in requiring cable operators to offer historically bundled programming services on an à la carte basis, or to at least offer a separately available child-friendly “Family Tier.” Such constraints could adversely affect our operations. 

Federal rate regulations generally require cable operators to allow subscribers to purchase premium or pay-per-view services without the necessity of subscribing to any tier of service, other than the basic service tier. The applicability of this rule in certain situations remains unclear, and adverse decisions by the FCC could affect our
 
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pricing and packaging of services. As we attempt to respond to a changing marketplace with competitive pricing practices, such as targeted promotions and discounts, we may face Communications Act uniform pricing requirements that impede our ability to compete.

Must Carry/Retransmission Consent. There are two alternative legal methods for carriage of local broadcast television stations on cable systems. Federal “must carry” regulations require cable systems to carry local broadcast television stations upon the request of the local broadcaster. Alternatively, federal law includes “retransmission consent” regulations, by which popular commercial television stations can prohibit cable carriage unless the cable operator first negotiates for “retransmission consent,” which may be conditioned on significant payments or other concessions. Broadcast stations must elect “must carry” or “retransmission consent” every three years, with the next election to be made prior to September 15, 2008. Either option has a potentially adverse effect on our business.

The burden associated with must carry could increase significantly if cable systems were required to simultaneously carry both the analog and digital signals of each television station (dual carriage), as the broadcast industry transitions from an analog to a digital format. The burden could also increase significantly if cable systems are required to carry multiple program streams included within a single digital broadcast transmission (multicast carriage). Additional government-mandated broadcast carriage obligations could disrupt existing programming commitments, interfere with our preferred use of limited channel capacity, and limit our ability to offer services that appeal to our customers and generate revenues. The FCC issued a decision in 2005 confirming an earlier ruling against mandating either dual carriage or multicast carriage. However, the FCC could reverse its own ruling or Congress could legislate additional carriage obligations. Federal law has established February 2009 as the deadline to complete the broadcast transition to digital spectrum and to reclaim analog spectrum. Cable operators may need to take additional operational steps and/or make further operating and capital investments at that time to ensure that customers not otherwise equipped to receive digital programming, retain access to broadcast programming.

Access Channels. Local franchise agreements often require cable operators to set aside certain channels for public, educational, and governmental access programming. Federal law also requires cable systems to designate a portion of their channel capacity for commercial leased access by unaffiliated third parties. The FCC has recently announced its intention to conduct a rulemaking aimed at increasing the use of commercial leased access channels. Increased activity in this area could further burden the channel capacity of our cable systems, and potentially limit the amount of services we are able to offer and may necessitate further investments to expand our network capacity.

Access to Programming. The Communications Act and the FCC’s “program access” rules generally prevent satellite video programmers affiliated with cable operators from favoring cable operators over competing multichannel video distributors, such as DBS, and limit the ability of such programmers to offer exclusive programming arrangements to cable operators. The FCC has extended the exclusivity restrictions through October 2007. Given the heightened competition and media consolidation that Charter faces, it is possible that we will find it increasingly difficult to gain access to popular programming at favorable terms. Such difficulty could adversely impact our business.

Ownership Restrictions. Federal regulation of the communications field traditionally included a host of ownership restrictions, which limited the size of certain media entities and restricted their ability to enter into competing enterprises. Through a series of legislative, regulatory, and judicial actions, most of these restrictions have been either eliminated or substantially relaxed. For example, historic restrictions on local exchange carriers offering cable service within their telephone service area, as well as those prohibiting broadcast stations from owning cable systems within their broadcast service area, no longer exist. Changes in this regulatory area, including some still subject to judicial review, could alter the business landscape in which we operate, as formidable new competitors (including electric utilities, local exchange carriers, and broadcast/media companies) may increasingly choose to offer cable services.

The FCC previously adopted regulations precluding any cable operator from serving more than 30% of all domestic multichannel video subscribers and from devoting more than 40% of the activated channel capacity of any cable system to the carriage of affiliated national video programming services. These cable ownership restrictions were invalidated by the courts, and the FCC is now considering adoption of replacement regulations.

Pole Attachments. The Communications Act requires most utilities to provide cable systems with access to poles and conduits and simultaneously subjects the rates charged for this access to either federal or state regulation. The Communications Act specifies that significantly higher rates apply if the cable plant is providing telecommunications services. The FCC has clarified that a cable operator's favorable pole rates are not endangered by the provision of Internet access, and that determination was upheld by the United States Supreme Court. It
 
 
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remains possible that the underlying pole attachment formula, or its application to Internet and telecommunications offerings, will be modified in a manner that substantially increases our pole attachment costs. We are a defendant in at least one lawsuit where the utility company claims that we should pay an increased rate on its poles. An adverse outcome would likely lead to higher pole attachment costs in certain states.

Cable Equipment. In 1996, Congress enacted a statute seeking to promote the “competitive availability of navigational devices” by allowing cable subscribers to use set-top boxes obtained from third parties, including third-party retailers. The FCC has undertaken several steps to implement this statute designed to promote competition in the delivery of cable equipment and compatibility with new digital technology. The FCC has expressly ruled that cable customers must be allowed to purchase set-top boxes from third parties, and has established a multi-year phase-in during which security functions (which would remain in the operator's exclusive control) would be unbundled from the basic converter functions, which could then be provided by third party vendors. The first phase of implementation has already passed, whereby cable operators are providing “CableCard” security modules and support to customer-owned digital televisions and similar devices equipped with built-in set-top box functionality compatible with CableCards. A prohibition on cable operators leasing digital set-top boxes that integrate security and basic navigation functions is scheduled to go into effect as of July 1, 2007.

There have been many requests for waiver of the integrated security ban filed with the FCC. Charter has petitioned the FCC to waive the prohibition as applied to our least expensive digital set-top boxes, and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association filed a request with the FCC that the prohibition be waived for all cable operators, for all set-top boxes, until a downloadable security solution is available, or until December 31, 2009, whichever is earlier. We cannot predict whether the FCC will grant these or any other requests.

It is possible that our vendors will be unable to deliver all of the necessary set-top boxes that we will require in time for us to comply with the FCC regulation, which could subject us to FCC penalties. In addition, our vendors will attempt to pass on costs associated with the design and manufacture of the new set-top boxes, which we may not be able to recover from our customers.

The cable and consumer electronics industries have been attempting to negotiate an agreement that would establish additional specifications for two-way digital televisions. It is unclear how this process will develop and how it will affect our offering of cable equipment and our relationship with our customers.

Privacy Regulation. The Communications Act limits our ability to collect and disclose subscribers’ personally identifiable information for our video, telephone, and high-speed Internet services, as well as provides requirements to safeguard such information. Charter is subject to additional Federal, State, and local laws and regulations that may also impose additional subscriber and employee privacy restrictions. Further, the FCC, FTC, and many states now regulate the telemarketing practices of cable operators, including telemarketing and online marketing efforts.

Other FCC Regulatory Matters. FCC regulations cover a variety of additional areas, including, among other things: (1) equal employment opportunity obligations; (2) customer service standards; (3) technical service standards; (4) MDU access rights for potential competitions; (5) mandatory blackouts of certain network, syndicated and sports programming; (6) restrictions on political advertising; (7) restrictions on advertising in children's programming; (8) restrictions on origination cablecasting; (9) restrictions on carriage of lottery programming; (10) sponsorship identification obligations; (11) closed captioning of video programming; (12) licensing of systems and facilities; (13) maintenance of public files; and (14) emergency alert systems.

It is possible that Congress or the FCC will expand or modify its regulation of cable systems in the future, and we cannot predict at this time how that might impact our business.

Copyright. Cable systems are subject to a federal copyright compulsory license covering carriage of television and radio broadcast signals. The possible modification or elimination of this compulsory copyright license is the subject of continuing legislative review and could adversely affect our ability to obtain desired broadcast programming. Moreover, the Copyright Office has not yet provided any guidance as to how the compulsory copyright license should apply to newly offered digital broadcast signals.

Copyright clearances for non-broadcast programming services are arranged through private negotiations. Cable operators also must obtain music rights for locally originated programming and advertising from the major music performing rights organizations. These licensing fees have been the source of litigation in the past, and we cannot predict with certainty whether license fee disputes may arise in the future.
 
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Franchise Matters. Cable systems generally are operated pursuant to nonexclusive franchises granted by a municipality or other state or local government entity in order to cross public rights-of-way. Cable franchises generally are granted for fixed terms and in many cases include monetary penalties for noncompliance and may be terminable if the franchisee fails to comply with material provisions. The specific terms and conditions of cable franchises vary materially between jurisdictions. Each franchise generally contains provisions governing cable operations, franchise fees, system construction, maintenance, technical performance, and customer service standards. A number of states subject cable systems to the jurisdiction of centralized state government agencies, such as public utility commissions. Although local franchising authorities have considerable discretion in establishing franchise terms, certain federal protections benefit cable operators. For example, federal law caps local franchise fees and includes renewal procedures designed to protect incumbent franchisees from arbitrary denials of renewal. Even if a franchise is renewed, however, the local franchising authority may seek to impose new and more onerous requirements as a condition of renewal. Similarly, if a local franchising authority's consent is required for the purchase or sale of a cable system, the local franchising authority may attempt to impose more burdensome requirements as a condition for providing its consent.

Legislative proposals have been introduced in the United States Congress and in state legislatures that would greatly streamline cable franchising. This legislation is intended to facilitate entry by new competitors, particularly local telephone companies. Such legislation has passed in several states, including states where we have significant operations. Although certain of these states have provided some regulatory relief for incumbent cable operators, these proposals are generally viewed as being more favorable to new entrants due to a number of factors, including efforts to withhold streamlined cable franchising from incumbents until after the expiration of their existing franchises, and the potential for new entrants to serve only higher-income areas of a particular community. To the extent incumbent cable operators are not able to avail themselves of this streamlined franchising process, such operators may continue to be subject to more onerous franchise requirements at the local level than new entrants. At least two additional states where we have cable systems have issued regulations that will facilitate telephone company provision of video services by eliminating or reducing the application of franchising requirements to the telephone companies. A proceeding is pending at the FCC to determine whether local franchising authorities are impeding the deployment of competitive cable services through unreasonable franchising requirements and whether any such impediments should be preempted. At this time, we are not able to determine what impact such proceeding may have on us.  

Internet Service

Over the past several years, proposals have been advanced at the FCC and Congress that would require cable operators offering Internet service to provide non-discriminatory access to their networks to competing Internet service providers. In a 2005 ruling, commonly referred to as Brand X, the Supreme Court upheld an FCC decision making it less likely that any non-discriminatory “open access” requirements (which are generally associated with common carrier regulation of “telecommunications services”) will be imposed on the cable industry by local, state or federal authorities. The Supreme Court held that the FCC was correct in classifying cable-provided Internet service as an “information service,” rather than a “telecommunications service.” This favorable regulatory classification limits the ability of various governmental authorities to impose open access requirements on cable-provided Internet service.

The FCC’s classification also means that it is unlikely the FCC will regulate Internet service to the same extent as cable or telecommunications services. However, the FCC has concluded that the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) does apply to facilities-based broadband Internet access providers, setting a deadline of May 14, 2007 for broadband providers to accommodate law enforcement requests for electronic surveillance pursuant to court order or other lawful authority. The FCC also issued a non-binding policy statement in 2005 establishing four basic principles that the FCC says will inform its ongoing policymaking activities regarding broadband-related Internet services. Those principles state that consumers are entitled to access the lawful Internet content of their choice, consumers are entitled to run applications and services of their choice, subject to the needs of law enforcement, consumers are entitled to connect their choice of legal devices that do not harm the network, and consumers are entitled to competition among network providers, application and service providers and content providers. It is unclear what, if any, additional regulations the FCC might impose on our Internet service, and what, if any, impact, such regulations might have on our business.

As the Internet has matured, it has become the subject of increasing regulatory interest. Congress and federal regulators have adopted a wide range of measures directly or potentially affecting Internet use, including, for example, consumer privacy, copyright protections (which afford copyright owners certain rights against us that could adversely affect our relationship with a customer accused of violating copyright laws), defamation liability,
 
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taxation, obscenity, and unsolicited commercial e-mail. Additionally, the FCC and Congress are considering subjecting high-speed Internet access services to the Universal Service funding requirements. This would impose significant new costs on our high-speed Internet service. State and local governmental organizations have also adopted Internet-related regulations. These various governmental jurisdictions are also considering additional regulations in these and other areas, such as pricing, service and product quality, and intellectual property ownership. The adoption of new Internet regulations or the adaptation of existing laws to the Internet could adversely affect our business.

Telephone Service

The 1996 Telecom Act created a more favorable regulatory environment for us to provide telecommunications services. In particular, it limited the regulatory role of local franchising authorities and established requirements ensuring that providers of traditional telecommunications services can interconnect with other telephone companies to provide a viable service. Many implementation details remain unresolved, and there are substantial regulatory changes being considered that could impact, in both positive and negative ways, our primary telecommunications competitors and our own entry into the field of telephone service. The FCC and state regulatory authorities are considering, for example, whether common carrier regulation traditionally applied to incumbent local exchange carriers should be modified. The FCC has concluded that alternative voice technologies, like certain types of VoIP (we use VoIP technology for our telephone service), should be regulated only at the federal level, rather than by individual states. A legal challenge to that FCC decision is pending. While the FCC’s decision appears to be a positive development for VoIP offerings, it is unclear whether and how the FCC will apply certain types of common carrier regulations, such as intercarrier compensations and universal service obligations to alternative voice technology. Also, the FCC and Congress are considering whether, and to what extent, VoIP service will have interconnection rights with local telephone companies. The FCC has already determined that providers of telephone services using Internet Protocol technology must comply with traditional 911 emergency service obligations (“E911”) and it has extended requirements for accommodating law enforcement wiretaps to such providers. It is unclear how these regulatory matters ultimately will be resolved and how they will affect our potential expansion into telephone service.
 
Employees 
 
As of December 31, 2006, we had approximately 15,500 full-time equivalent employees. At December 31, 2006, approximately 100 of our employees were represented by collective bargaining agreements. We have never experienced a work stoppage.
 
Item 1A.     Risk Factors.

Risks Related to Significant Indebtedness of Us and Our Subsidiaries 

We and our subsidiaries have a significant amount of existing debt and may incur significant additional debt, including secured debt, in the future, which could adversely affect our financial health and our ability to react to changes in our business.

We and our subsidiaries have a significant amount of debt and may (subject to applicable restrictions in our debt instruments) incur additional debt in the future. As of December 31, 2006, our total debt was approximately $19.1 billion, our shareholders' deficit was approximately $6.2 billion and the deficiency of earnings to cover fixed charges for the year ended December 31, 2006 was $1.2 billion.

As of December 31, 2006, approximately $413 million aggregate principal amount of Charter's convertible notes was outstanding; which matures in 2009. We will need to raise additional capital and/or receive distributions or payments from our subsidiaries in order to satisfy this debt obligation. An additional $450 million aggregate principal amount of Charter’s convertible notes was held by CCHC.

Because of our significant indebtedness, our ability to raise additional capital at reasonable rates, or at all, is uncertain, and the ability of our subsidiaries to make distributions or payments to their parent companies is subject to availability of funds and restrictions under our subsidiaries' applicable debt instruments and under applicable law. If we need to raise additional capital through the issuance of equity or find it necessary to engage in a recapitalization or other similar transaction, our shareholders could suffer significant dilution, and in the case of a recapitalization or other similar transaction, our noteholders might not receive principal and interest payments to which they are contractually entitled.
 
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Our significant amount of debt could have other important consequences. For example, the debt will or could:

·  
require us to dedicate a significant portion of our cash flow from operating activities to make payments on our debt, reducing our funds available for working capital, capital expenditures, and other general corporate expenses;
·  
limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business, the cable and telecommunications industries, and the economy at large;
·  
place us at a disadvantage compared to our competitors that have proportionately less debt;
·  
make us vulnerable to interest rate increases, because approximately 22% of our borrowings are, and will continue to be, at variable rates of interest;
·  
expose us to increased interest expense to the extent we refinance existing debt with higher cost debt;
·  
adversely affect our relationship with customers and suppliers;
·  
limit our ability to borrow additional funds in the future, due to applicable financial and restrictive covenants in our debt;
·  
make it more difficult for us to satisfy our obligations to the holders of our notes and for our subsidiaries to satisfy their obligations to their lenders under their credit facilities and to their noteholders; and
·  
limit future increases in the value, or cause a decline in the value of our equity, which could limit our ability to raise additional capital by issuing equity.

A default by one of our subsidiaries under its debt obligations could result in the acceleration of those obligations, which in turn could trigger cross defaults under other agreements governing our long-term indebtedness. In addition, the secured lenders under the Charter Operating credit facilities and the holders of the Charter Operating senior second-lien notes could foreclose on their collateral, which includes equity interest in our subsidiaries, and exercise other rights of secured creditors. Any default under those credit facilities or the indentures governing our convertible notes or our subsidiaries’ debt could adversely affect our growth, our financial condition, our results of operations, and our ability to make payments on our convertible notes, Charter Operating’s credit facilities, and other debt of our subsidiaries, and could force us to seek the protection of the bankruptcy laws. We and our subsidiaries may incur significant additional debt in the future. If current debt levels increase, the related risks that we now face will intensify.

The agreements and instruments governing our debt and the debt of our subsidiaries contain restrictions and limitations that could significantly affect our ability to operate our business, as well as significantly affect our liquidity.

The Charter Operating credit facilities and the indentures governing our and our subsidiaries' debt contain a number of significant covenants that could adversely affect our ability to operate our business, as well as significantly affect our liquidity, and therefore could adversely affect our results of operations. These covenants will restrict, among other things, our and our subsidiaries' ability to:

·  
incur additional debt;
·  
repurchase or redeem equity interests and debt;
·  
issue equity;
·  
make certain investments or acquisitions;
·  
pay dividends or make other distributions;
·  
dispose of assets or merge;
·  
enter into related party transactions; and
·  
grant liens and pledge assets.

The breach of any covenants or obligations in the foregoing indentures or credit facilities, not otherwise waived or amended, could result in a default under the applicable debt obligations and could trigger acceleration of those obligations, which in turn could trigger cross defaults under other agreements governing our long-term indebtedness. In addition, the secured lenders under the Charter Operating credit facilities and the holders of the Charter Operating senior second-lien notes could foreclose on their collateral, which includes equity interests in our subsidiaries, and exercise other rights of secured creditors. Any default under those credit facilities or the indentures governing our convertible notes or our subsidiaries' debt could adversely affect our growth, our financial condition, our results of operations and our ability to make payments on our convertible notes, Charter Operating's credit facilities, and other debt of our subsidiaries, and could force us to seek the protection of the bankruptcy laws.
 
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Charter Operating may not be able to access funds under its credit facilities if it fails to satisfy the covenant restrictions in its credit facilities, which could adversely affect our financial condition and our ability to conduct our business.

Our subsidiaries have historically relied on access to credit facilities in order to fund operations and to service parent company debt, and we expect such reliance to continue in the future. Our total potential borrowing availability under the Charter Operating credit facilities was approximately $1.3 billion as of December 31, 2006, although the actual availability at that time was only $1.1 billion because of limits imposed by covenant restrictions. There can be no assurance that actual availability under our credit facilities will not be limited by covenant restrictions in the future.

One of the conditions to the availability of funding under Charter Operating's credit facilities is the absence of a default under such facilities, including as a result of any failure to comply with the covenants under the facilities. Among other covenants, the facilities require Charter Operating to maintain specific financial ratios. The facilities also provide that Charter Operating has to obtain an unqualified audit opinion from its independent accountants for each fiscal year. There can be no assurance that Charter Operating will be able to continue to comply with these or any other of the covenants under the credit facilities.

An event of default under the credit facilities or indentures, if not waived, could result in the acceleration of those debt obligations and, consequently, could trigger cross defaults under other agreements governing our long-term indebtedness. In addition, the secured lenders under the Charter Operating credit facilities and the holders of the Charter Operating senior second-lien notes could foreclose on their collateral, which includes equity interest in our subsidiaries, and exercise other rights of secured creditors. Any default under those credit facilities or the indentures governing our convertible notes or our subsidiaries’ debt could adversely affect our growth, our financial condition, our results of operations, and our ability to make payments on our convertible notes, Charter Operating’s credit facilities, and other debt of our subsidiaries, and could force us to seek the protection of the bankruptcy laws, which could materially adversely impact our ability to operate our business and to make payments under our debt instruments.

We depend on generating sufficient cash flow and having access to additional external liquidity sources to fund our debt obligations, capital expenditures, and ongoing operations.

Our ability to service our debt and to fund our planned capital expenditures and ongoing operations will depend on both our ability to generate cash flow and our access to additional external liquidity sources. Our ability to generate cash flow is dependent on many factors, including:

·  
competition from other video programming distributors, including incumbent telephone companies, direct broadcast satellite operators, wireless broadband providers and DSL providers;
·  
unforeseen difficulties we may encounter in our continued introduction of our telephone services such as our ability to meet heightened customer expectations for the reliability of voice services compared to other services we provide, and our ability to meet heightened demand for installations and customer service;
·  
our ability to sustain and grow revenues by offering video, high-speed Internet, telephone and other services, and to maintain and grow a stable customer base, particularly in the face of increasingly aggressive competition from other service providers;
·  
our ability to obtain programming at reasonable prices or to pass programming cost increases on to our customers;
·  
general business conditions, economic uncertainty or slowdown; and
·  
the effects of governmental regulation, including but not limited to local franchise authorities, on our business.

Some of these factors are beyond our control. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow or access additional external liquidity sources, we may not be able to service and repay our debt, operate our business, respond to competitive challenges, or fund our other liquidity and capital needs. Although we and our subsidiaries have been able to raise funds through issuances of debt in the past, we may not be able to access additional sources of external liquidity on similar terms, if at all. We expect that cash on hand, cash flows from operating activities, and the amounts available under our credit facilities will be adequate to meet our cash needs through 2007. We believe that cash flows from operating activities and amounts available under our credit facilities may not be sufficient to fund our operations and satisfy our interest and principal repayment obligations in 2008 and will not be sufficient to fund
 
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such needs in 2009 and beyond. See “Part II. Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations Liquidity and Capital Resources.”  

Because of our holding company structure, our outstanding notes are structurally subordinated in right of payment to all liabilities of our subsidiaries. Restrictions in our subsidiaries' debt instruments and under applicable law limit their ability to provide funds to us or our various debt issuers.

Our sole assets are our equity interests in our subsidiaries. Our operating subsidiaries are separate and distinct legal entities and are not obligated to make funds available to us for payments on our notes or other obligations in the form of loans, distributions, or otherwise. Our subsidiaries' ability to make distributions to us or the applicable debt issuers to service debt obligations is subject to their compliance with the terms of their credit facilities and indentures, and restrictions under applicable law. See “Part II. Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Liquidity and Capital Resources — Limitations on Distributions” and “— Debt Covenants.” Under the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act, our subsidiaries may only make distributions if they have “surplus” as defined in the act. Under fraudulent transfer laws, our subsidiaries may not pay dividends if they are insolvent or are rendered insolvent thereby. The measures of insolvency for purposes of these fraudulent transfer laws vary depending upon the law applied in any proceeding to determine whether a fraudulent transfer has occurred. Generally, however, an entity would be considered insolvent if:

·  
the sum of its debts, including contingent liabilities, was greater than the fair saleable value of all its assets;
·  
the present fair saleable value of its assets was less than the amount that would be required to pay its probable liability on its existing debts, including contingent liabilities, as they become absolute and mature; or
·  
it could not pay its debts as they became due.

While we believe that our relevant subsidiaries currently have surplus and are not insolvent, there can be no assurance that these subsidiaries will be permitted to make distributions in the future in compliance with these restrictions in amounts needed to service our indebtedness. Our direct or indirect subsidiaries include the borrowers and guarantors under the Charter Operating credit facilities. Several of our subsidiaries are also obligors and guarantors under other senior high yield notes. Our convertible notes are structurally subordinated in right of payment to all of the debt and other liabilities of our subsidiaries. As of December 31, 2006, our total debt was approximately $19.1 billion, of which approximately $18.7 billion was structurally senior to our convertible notes.

In the event of bankruptcy, liquidation, or dissolution of one or more of our subsidiaries, that subsidiary's assets would first be applied to satisfy its own obligations, and following such payments, such subsidiary may not have sufficient assets remaining to make payments to its parent company as an equity holder or otherwise. In that event:

·  
the lenders under Charter Operating's credit facilities, whose interests are secured by substantially all of our operating assets, will have the right to be paid in full before us from any of our subsidiaries' assets; and
·  
the holders of preferred membership interests in our subsidiary, CC VIII, would have a claim on a portion of its assets that may reduce the amounts available for repayment to holders of our outstanding notes.
 
All of our and our subsidiaries' outstanding debt is subject to change of control provisions. We may not have the ability to raise the funds necessary to fulfill our obligations under our indebtedness following a change of control, which would place us in default under the applicable debt instruments.

We may not have the ability to raise the funds necessary to fulfill our obligations under our and our subsidiaries' notes and credit facilities following a change of control. Under the indentures governing our and our subsidiaries' notes, upon the occurrence of specified change of control events, we are required to offer to repurchase all of these notes. However, Charter and our subsidiaries may not have sufficient funds at the time of the change of control event to make the required repurchase of these notes, and our subsidiaries are limited in their ability to make distributions or other payments to fund any required repurchase. In addition, a change of control under our credit facilities would result in a default under those credit facilities. Because such credit facilities and our subsidiaries' notes are obligations of our subsidiaries, the credit facilities and our subsidiaries' notes would have to be repaid by our subsidiaries before their assets could be available to us to repurchase our convertible senior notes. Our failure to make or complete a change of control offer would place us in default under our convertible senior notes. The failure of our subsidiaries to make a change of control offer or repay the amounts accelerated under their notes and credit facilities would place them in default.
 
 
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Paul G. Allen and his affiliates are not obligated to purchase equity from, contribute to, or loan funds to us or any of our subsidiaries.

Paul G. Allen and his affiliates are not obligated to purchase equity from, contribute to, or loan funds to us or any of our subsidiaries.

Risks Related to Our Business 

We operate in a very competitive business environment, which affects our ability to attract and retain customers and can adversely affect our business and operations.

The industry in which we operate is highly competitive and has become more so in recent years. In some instances, we compete against companies with fewer regulatory burdens, easier access to financing, greater personnel and other resources, greater brand name recognition, and long-established relationships with regulatory authorities and customers. Increasing consolidation in the cable industry and the repeal of certain ownership rules may provide additional benefits to certain of our competitors, either through access to financing, resources, or efficiencies of scale.
 
Our principal competitor for video services throughout our territory is DBS. The two largest DBS providers are DIRECTV and Echostar Communications. Competition from DBS, including intensive marketing efforts with aggressive pricing and exclusive programming such as the “NFL Sunday Ticket,” has had an adverse impact on our ability to retain customers. DBS has grown rapidly over the last several years. The cable industry, including us, has lost a significant number of video customers to DBS competition, and we face serious challenges in this area in the future. In some areas, DBS operators have entered into co-marketing arrangements with other of our competitors to offer service bundles combining video services provided by the DBS operator and DSL and traditional telephone service offered by the telephone companies. These service bundles resemble our bundles and result in a single bill to the customer. We believe that competition from DBS service providers may present greater challenges in areas of lower population density, and that our systems service a higher concentration of such areas than those of certain other major cable service providers.

Local telephone companies and electric utilities can offer video and other services in competition with us and they increasingly may do so in the future. Two major local telephone companies, AT&T and Verizon, have both announced that they intend to make upgrades of their networks. Some upgraded portions of these networks are or will be capable of carrying two-way video services that are technically comparable to ours, high-speed data services that operate at speeds as high or higher than those we make available to customers in these areas and digital voice services that are similar to ours. In addition, these companies continue to offer their traditional telephone services as well as bundles that include wireless voice services provided by affiliated companies. We believe that AT&T and Verizon’s upgrades have been completed in systems representing approximately 1% of our homes passed as of December 31, 2006.  Additional upgrades in markets in which we operate are expected. In areas where they have launched video services, these parties are aggressively marketing video, voice and data bundles at entry level prices similar to those we use to market our bundles. Certain telephone companies have begun more extensive upgrades in their networks that enable them to begin providing video services, as well as telephone and high bandwidth Internet access services, to residential and business customers and they are now offering such service in limited areas. Some of these telephone companies have obtained, and are now seeking, franchises or operating authorizations under terms and conditions more favorable than those imposed on us.

With respect to our Internet access services, we face competition, including intensive marketing efforts and aggressive pricing, from telephone companies and other providers of DSL and “dial-up”. DSL service is competitive with high-speed Internet service over cable systems. In addition, DBS providers have entered into joint marketing arrangements with Internet access providers to offer bundled video and Internet service, which competes with our ability to provide bundled services to our customers. Moreover, as we expand our telephone offerings, we face considerable competition from established telephone companies and other carriers, including VoIP providers.

In order to attract new customers, from time to time we make promotional offers, including offers of temporarily reduced-price or free service. These promotional programs result in significant advertising, programming and operating expenses, and also require us to make capital expenditures to acquire additional digital set-top boxes. Customers who subscribe to our services as a result of these offerings may not remain customers for any significant period of time following the end of the promotional period. A failure to retain existing customers and customers added through promotional offerings or to collect the amounts they owe us could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial results.
 
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Mergers, joint ventures and alliances among franchised, wireless or private cable operators, satellite television providers, local exchange carriers and others, may provide additional benefits to some of our competitors, either through access to financing, resources or efficiencies of scale, or the ability to provide multiple services in direct competition with us.

In addition to the various competitive factors discussed above, our business is subject to risks relating to increasing competition for the leisure and entertainment time of consumers. Our business competes with all other sources of entertainment and information delivery, including broadcast television, movies, live events, radio broadcasts, home video products, console games, print media, and the Internet. Technological advancements, such as video-on-demand, new video formats, and Internet streaming and downloading, have increased the number of entertainment and information delivery choices available to consumers, and intensified the challenges posed by audience fragmentation. The increasing number of choices available to audiences could negatively impact not only consumer demand for our products and services, but also advertisers’ willingness to purchase advertising from us. If we do not respond appropriately to further increases in the leisure and entertainment choices available to consumers, our competitive position could deteriorate, and our financial results could suffer.

We cannot assure you that our cable systems will allow us to compete effectively. Additionally, as we expand our offerings to include other telecommunications services, and to introduce new and enhanced services, we will be subject to competition from other providers of the services we offer. We cannot predict the extent to which competition may affect our business and operations in the future.

We have a history of net losses and expect to continue to experience net losses. Consequently, we may not have the ability to finance future operations.

We have had a history of net losses and expect to continue to report net losses for the foreseeable future. Our net losses are principally attributable to insufficient revenue to cover the combination of operating expenses and interest expenses we incur because of our high level of debt and the depreciation expenses that we incur resulting from the capital investments we have made in our cable properties. We expect that these expenses will remain significant. We reported net losses applicable to common stock of $1.4 billion, $970 million, and $4.3 billion for the years ended December 31, 2006, 2005, and 2004, respectively. Continued losses would reduce our cash available from operations to service our indebtedness, as well as limit our ability to finance our operations.

We may not have the ability to pass our increasing programming costs on to our customers, which would adversely affect our cash flow and operating margins.

Programming has been, and is expected to continue to be, our largest operating expense item. In recent years, the cable industry has experienced a rapid escalation in the cost of programming, particularly sports programming. We expect programming costs to continue to increase because of a variety of factors, including annual increases imposed by programmers and additional programming, including high definition television, and OnDemand programming, being provided to customers. The inability to fully pass these programming cost increases on to our customers has had an adverse impact on our cash flow and operating margins. We have programming contracts that have expired or that will expire at or before the end of 2007. There can be no assurance that these agreements will be renewed on favorable or comparable terms. To the extent that we are unable to reach agreement with certain programmers on terms that we believe are reasonable we may be forced to remove such programming channels from our line-up, which could result in a further loss of customers.

Increased demands by owners of some broadcast stations for carriage of other services or payments to those broadcasters for retransmission consent could further increase our programming costs. Federal law allows commercial television broadcast stations to make an election between “must-carry” rights and an alternative “retransmission-consent” regime. When a station opts for the latter, cable operators are not allowed to carry the station’s signal without the station’s permission. In some cases, we carry stations under short-term arrangements while we attempt to negotiate new long-term retransmission agreements. If negotiations with these programmers prove unsuccessful, they could require us to cease carrying their signals, possibly for an indefinite period. Any loss of stations could make our video service less attractive to customers, which could result in less subscription and advertising revenue. In retransmission-consent negotiations, broadcasters often condition consent with respect to one station on carriage of one or more other stations or programming services in which they or their affiliates have an interest. Carriage of these other services may increase our programming expenses and diminish the amount of capacity we have available to introduce new services, which could have an adverse effect on our business and financial results.
 
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If our required capital expenditures in 2007, 2008 and beyond exceed our projections, we may not have sufficient funding, which could adversely affect our growth, financial condition and results of operations.

During the year ended December 31, 2006, we spent approximately $1.1 billion on capital expenditures. During 2007, we expect capital expenditures to be approximately $1.2 billion. The actual amount of our capital expenditures depends on the level of growth in high-speed Internet and telephone customers, and in the delivery of other advanced services, as well as the cost of introducing any new services. We may need additional capital in 2007, 2008, and beyond if there is accelerated growth in high-speed Internet customers, telephone customers or in the delivery of other advanced services. If we cannot obtain such capital from increases in our cash flow from operating activities, additional borrowings, proceeds from asset sales or other sources, our growth, financial condition, and results of operations could suffer materially.

We face risks inherent to our telephone business. 
 
We may encounter unforeseen difficulties as we introduce our telephone service in new operating areas and as we increase the scale of our telephone service offerings in areas in which they have already been launched. First, we face heightened customer expectations for the reliability of telephone services, as compared with our video and high-speed data services. We have undertaken significant training of customer service representatives and technicians, and we will continue to need a highly trained workforce. To ensure reliable service, we may need to increase our expenditures, including spending on technology, equipment and personnel. If the service is not sufficiently reliable or we otherwise fail to meet customer expectations, our telephone business could be adversely affected. Second, the competitive landscape for telephone services is intense; we face competition from providers of Internet telephone services, as well as incumbent local telephone companies, cellular telephone service providers, and others. Third, we depend on interconnection and related services provided by certain third parties. As a result, our ability to implement changes as the service grows may be limited. Finally, we expect advances in communications technology, as well as changes in the marketplace and the regulatory and legislative environment. Consequently, we are unable to predict the effect that ongoing or future developments in these areas might have on our telephone business and operations.

Our inability to respond to technological developments and meet customer demand for new products and services could limit our ability to compete effectively.

Our business is characterized by rapid technological change and the introduction of new products and services, some of which are bandwidth-intensive. We cannot assure you that we will be able to fund the capital expenditures necessary to keep pace with technological developments, or that we will successfully anticipate the demand of our customers for products and services requiring new technology or bandwidth beyond our expectations. Our inability to maintain and expand our upgraded systems and provide advanced services in a timely manner, or to anticipate the demands of the marketplace, could materially adversely affect our ability to attract and retain customers. Consequently, our growth, financial condition and results of operations could suffer materially.

We depend on third party suppliers and licensors; thus, if we are unable to procure the necessary equipment, software or licenses on reasonable terms and on a timely basis, our ability to offer services could be impaired, and our growth, operations, business, financial results and financial condition could be materially adversely affected. 

We depend on third party suppliers and licensors to supply some of the hardware, software and operational support necessary to provide some of our services. We obtain these materials from a limited number of vendors, some of which do not have a long operating history. Some of our hardware, software and operational support vendors represent our sole source of supply or have, either through contract or as a result of intellectual property rights, a position of some exclusivity. If demand exceeds these vendors’ capacity or if these vendors experience operating or financial difficulties, or are otherwise unable to provide the equipment we need in a timely manner and at reasonable prices, our ability to provide some services might be materially adversely affected, or the need to procure or develop alternative sources of the affected materials or services might delay our ability to serve our customers. These events could materially and adversely affect our ability to retain and attract customers, and have a material negative impact on our operations, business, financial results and financial condition. A limited number of vendors of key technologies can lead to less product innovation and higher costs. For these reasons, we generally endeavor to establish alternative vendors for materials we consider critical, but may not be able to establish these relationships or be able to obtain required materials on favorable terms.
 
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For example, each of our systems currently purchases set-top boxes from a limited number of vendors, because each of our cable systems uses one or two proprietary conditional access security schemes, which allow us to regulate subscriber access to some services, such as premium channels. We believe that the proprietary nature of these conditional access schemes makes other manufacturers reluctant to produce set-top boxes. Future innovation in set-top boxes may be restricted until these issues are resolved. In addition, we believe that the general lack of compatibility among set-top box operating systems has slowed the industry’s development and deployment of digital set-top box applications.

Malicious and abusive Internet practices could impair our high-speed Internet services.

Our high-speed Internet customers utilize our network to access the Internet and, as a consequence, we or they may become victim to common malicious and abusive Internet activities, such as unsolicited mass advertising (i.e., “spam”) and dissemination of viruses, worms, and other destructive or disruptive software. These activities could have adverse consequences on our network and our customers, including degradation of service, excessive call volume to call centers, and damage to our or our customers' equipment and data. Significant incidents could lead to customer dissatisfaction and, ultimately, loss of customers or revenue, in addition to increased costs to service our customers and protect our network. Any significant loss of high-speed Internet customers or revenue, or significant increase in costs of serving those customers, could adversely affect our growth, financial condition and results of operations.
 
We could be deemed an “investment company” under the Investment Company Act of 1940. This would impose significant restrictions on us and would be likely to have a material adverse impact on our growth, financial condition and results of operation.

Our principal assets are our equity interests in Charter Holdco and certain indebtedness of Charter Holdco. If our membership interest in Charter Holdco were to constitute less than 50% of the voting securities issued by Charter Holdco, then our interest in Charter Holdco could be deemed an “investment security” for purposes of the Investment Company Act. This may occur, for example, if a court determines that the Class B common stock is no longer entitled to special voting rights and, in accordance with the terms of the Charter Holdco limited liability company agreement, our membership units in Charter Holdco were to lose their special voting privileges. A determination that such interest was an investment security could cause us to be deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless an exemption from registration were available or we were to obtain an order of the Securities and Exchange Commission excluding or exempting us from registration under the Investment Company Act.

If anything were to happen which would cause us to be deemed an investment company, the Investment Company Act would impose significant restrictions on us, including severe limitations on our ability to borrow money, to issue additional capital stock, and to transact business with affiliates. In addition, because our operations are very different from those of the typical registered investment company, regulation under the Investment Company Act could affect us in other ways that are extremely difficult to predict. In sum, if we were deemed to be an investment company it could become impractical for us to continue our business as currently conducted and our growth, our financial condition and our results of operations could suffer materially.

If a court determines that the Class B common stock is no longer entitled to special voting rights, we would lose our rights to manage Charter Holdco. In addition to the investment company risks discussed above, this could materially impact the value of the Class A common stock.

If a court determines that the Class B common stock is no longer entitled to special voting rights, Charter would no longer have a controlling voting interest in, and would lose its right to manage, Charter Holdco. If this were to occur:

·  
we would retain our proportional equity interest in Charter Holdco but would lose all of our powers to direct the management and affairs of Charter Holdco and its subsidiaries; and
·  
we would become strictly a passive investment vehicle and would be treated under the Investment Company Act as an investment company.

This result, as well as the impact of being treated under the Investment Company Act as an investment company, could materially adversely impact:
 
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·  
the liquidity of the Class A common stock;
·  
how the Class A common stock trades in the marketplace;
·  
the price that purchasers would be willing to pay for the Class A common stock in a change of control transaction or otherwise; and
·  
the market price of the Class A common stock.

Uncertainties that may arise with respect to the nature of our management role and voting power and organizational documents as a result of any challenge to the special voting rights of the Class B common stock, including legal actions or proceedings relating thereto, may also materially adversely impact the value of the Class A common stock.

For tax purposes, there is significant risk that we will experience an ownership change resulting in a material limitation on the use of a substantial amount of our existing net operating loss carryforwards.

As of December 31, 2006, we had approximately $6.7 billion of tax net operating losses, resulting in a gross deferred tax asset of approximately $2.7 billion, expiring in the years 2007 through 2026.  Due to uncertainties in projected future taxable income, valuation allowances have been established against the gross deferred tax assets for book accounting purposes, except for deferred benefits available to offset certain deferred tax liabilities.  Currently, such tax net operating losses can accumulate and be used to offset any of our future taxable income.  However, an “ownership change” as defined in Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, would place significant limitations, on an annual basis, on the use of such net operating losses to offset future taxable income we may generate.  Such limitations, in conjunction with the net operating loss expiration provisions, could effectively eliminate our ability to use a substantial portion of our net operating losses to offset future taxable income.

Future transactions and the timing of such transactions could cause an ownership change for income tax purposes. Such transactions include additional issuances of common stock by us (including but not limited to issuances upon future conversion of our 5.875% convertible senior notes), the return to us of the borrowed shares loaned by us in connection with the issuance of the 5.875% convertible senior notes, or acquisitions or sales of shares by certain holders of our shares, including persons who have held, currently hold, or accumulate in the future five percent or more of our outstanding stock (including upon an exchange by Mr. Allen or his affiliates, directly or indirectly, of membership units of Charter Holdco into our Class B common stock). Many of the foregoing transactions, including whether Mr. Allen exchanges his Charter Holdco units, are beyond our control.

Risks Related to Mr. Allen's Controlling Position 

The failure by Mr. Allen to maintain a minimum voting and economic interest in us could trigger a change of control default under our subsidiary's credit facilities.

The Charter Operating credit facilities provide that the failure by (a) Mr. Allen, (b) his estate, spouse, immediate family members and heirs and (c) any trust, corporation, partnership or other entity, the beneficiaries, stockholders, partners or other owners of which consist exclusively of Mr. Allen or such other persons referred to in (b) above or a combination thereof to maintain a 35% direct or indirect voting interest in the applicable borrower would result in a change of control default. Such a default could result in the acceleration of repayment of our and our subsidiaries' indebtedness, including borrowings under the Charter Operating credit facilities.

Mr. Allen controls our stockholder voting and may have interests that conflict with the interests of the other holders of our Class A common stock.

Mr. Allen has the ability to control us. Through his control, as of December 31, 2006, of approximately 91% of the voting power of our capital stock, Mr. Allen is entitled to elect all but one of our board members and effectively has the voting power to elect the remaining board member as well. Mr. Allen thus has the ability to control fundamental corporate transactions requiring equity holder approval, including, but not limited to, the election of all of our directors, approval of merger transactions involving us and the sale of all or substantially all of our assets.

Mr. Allen is not restricted from investing in, and has invested in, and engaged in, other businesses involving or related to the operation of cable television systems, video programming, high-speed Internet service, telephone or business and financial transactions conducted through broadband interactivity and Internet services. Mr. Allen may also engage in other businesses that compete or may in the future compete with us.
 
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Mr. Allen's control over our management and affairs could create conflicts of interest if he is faced with decisions that could have different implications for him, us and the other holders of our Class A common stock. For example, if Mr. Allen were to elect to exchange his Charter Holdco membership units for our Class B common stock pursuant to our existing exchange agreement with him, such a transaction would result in an ownership change for income tax purposes, as discussed above. See “For tax purposes, there is significant risk that we will experience an ownership change resulting in a material limitation on the use of a substantial amount of our existing net operating loss carryforwards.” Further, Mr. Allen could effectively cause us to enter into contracts with another entity in which he owns an interest, or to decline a transaction into which he (or another entity in which he owns an interest) ultimately enters.

Current and future agreements between us and either Mr. Allen or his affiliates may not be the result of arm's-length negotiations. Consequently, such agreements may be less favorable to us than agreements that we could otherwise have entered into with unaffiliated third parties.

We are not permitted to engage in any business activity other than the cable transmission of video, audio and data unless Mr. Allen authorizes us to pursue that particular business activity, which could adversely affect our ability to offer new products and services outside of the cable transmission business and to enter into new businesses, and could adversely affect our growth, financial condition and results of operations.

Our certificate of incorporation and Charter Holdco's limited liability company agreement provide that Charter and Charter Holdco and our subsidiaries, cannot engage in any business activity outside the cable transmission business except for specified businesses. This will be the case unless Mr. Allen consents to our engaging in the business activity. The cable transmission business means the business of transmitting video, audio (including telephone services), and data over cable television systems owned, operated, or managed by us from time to time. These provisions may limit our ability to take advantage of attractive business opportunities.

The loss of Mr. Allen's services could adversely affect our ability to manage our business.

Mr. Allen is Chairman of our board of directors and provides strategic guidance and other services to us. If we were to lose his services, our growth, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely impacted.

The special tax allocation provisions of the Charter Holdco limited liability company agreement may cause us in some circumstances to pay more taxes than if the special tax allocation provisions were not in effect.

Charter Holdco's limited liability company agreement provided that through the end of 2003, net tax losses (such net tax losses being determined under the federal income tax rules for determining capital accounts) of Charter Holdco that would otherwise have been allocated to us based generally on our percentage ownership of outstanding common membership units of Charter Holdco, would instead be allocated to the membership units held by Vulcan Cable III Inc. (“Vulcan Cable”) and CII. The purpose of these special tax allocation provisions was to allow Mr. Allen to take advantage, for tax purposes, of the losses generated by Charter Holdco during such period. In some situations, these special tax allocation provisions could result in our having to pay taxes in an amount that is more or less than if Charter Holdco had allocated net tax losses to its members based generally on the percentage of outstanding common membership units owned by such members. For further discussion on the details of the tax allocation provisions see “Part II. Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates Income Taxes.”
 
Risks Related to Regulatory and Legislative Matters 

Our business is subject to extensive governmental legislation and regulation, which could adversely affect our business.

Regulation of the cable industry has increased cable operators' administrative and operational expenses and limited their revenues. Cable operators are subject to, among other things:

·  
rules governing the provision of cable equipment and compatibility with new digital technologies;
·  
rules and regulations relating to subscriber privacy;
·  
limited rate regulation;
·  
requirements governing when a cable system must carry a particular broadcast station and when it must first obtain consent to carry a broadcast station;
 
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·  
rules and regulations relating to provision of voice communications;
·  
rules for franchise renewals and transfers; and
·  
other requirements covering a variety of operational areas such as equal employment opportunity, technical standards, and customer service requirements.
 
Additionally, many aspects of these regulations are currently the subject of judicial proceedings and administrative or legislative proposals. There are also ongoing efforts to amend or expand the federal, state, and local regulation of some of our cable systems, which may compound the regulatory risks we already face. Certain states and localities are considering new telecommunications taxes that could increase operating expenses.

Our cable system franchises are subject to non-renewal or termination. The failure to renew a franchise in one or more key markets could adversely affect our business.

Our cable systems generally operate pursuant to franchises, permits, and similar authorizations issued by a state or local governmental authority controlling the public rights-of-way. Many franchises establish comprehensive facilities and service requirements, as well as specific customer service standards and monetary penalties for non-compliance. In many cases, franchises are terminable if the franchisee fails to comply with significant provisions set forth in the franchise agreement governing system operations. Franchises are generally granted for fixed terms and must be periodically renewed. Local franchising authorities may resist granting a renewal if either past performance or the prospective operating proposal is considered inadequate. Franchise authorities often demand concessions or other commitments as a condition to renewal. In some instances, franchises have not been renewed at expiration, and we have operated and are operating under either temporary operating agreements or without a license while negotiating renewal terms with the local franchising authorities. Approximately 12% of our franchises, covering approximately 15% of our analog video customers, were expired as of December 31, 2006. Approximately 8% of additional franchises, covering approximately an additional 11% of our analog video customers, will expire on or before December 31, 2007, if not renewed prior to expiration.

We cannot assure you that we will be able to comply with all significant provisions of our franchise agreements and certain of our franchisors have from time to time alleged that we have not complied with these agreements. Additionally, although historically we have renewed our franchises without incurring significant costs, we cannot assure you that we will be able to renew, or to renew as favorably, our franchises in the future. A termination of or a sustained failure to renew a franchise in one or more key markets could adversely affect our business in the affected geographic area.

Our cable system franchises are non-exclusive. Accordingly, local franchising authorities can grant additional franchises and create competition in market areas where none existed previously, resulting in overbuilds, which could adversely affect results of operations.

Our cable system franchises are non-exclusive. Consequently, local franchising authorities can grant additional franchises to competitors in the same geographic area or operate their own cable systems. In addition, certain telephone companies are seeking authority to operate in local communities without first obtaining a local franchise. As a result, competing operators may build systems in areas in which we hold franchises. In some cases municipal utilities may legally compete with us without obtaining a franchise from the local franchising authority.

Legislative proposals have been introduced in the United States Congress and in state legislatures that would greatly streamline cable franchising. This legislation is intended to facilitate entry by new competitors, particularly local telephone companies. Such legislation has passed in several states, including states where we have significant operations. Although certain of these states have provided some regulatory relief for incumbent cable operators, these proposals are generally viewed as being more favorable to new entrants due to a number of factors, including efforts to withhold streamlined cable franchising from incumbents until after the expiration of their existing franchises, and the potential for new entrants to serve only higher-income areas of a particular community. To the extent incumbent cable operators are not able to avail themselves of this streamlined franchising process, such operators may continue to be subject to more onerous franchise requirements at the local level than new entrants. At least two additional states where we have cable systems have issued regulations that will facilitate telephone company provision of video services by eliminating or reducing the application of franchising requirements to the telephone companies. A proceeding is pending at the FCC to determine whether local franchising authorities are impeding the deployment of competitive cable services through unreasonable franchising requirements and whether such impediments should be preempted. We are not yet able to determine what impact such proceeding may have on us.
 
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The existence of more than one cable system operating in the same territory is referred to as an overbuild. These overbuilds could adversely affect our growth, financial condition, and results of operations by creating or increasing competition. As of December 31, 2006, we are aware of traditional overbuild situations impacting approximately 7% of our estimated homes passed, and potential traditional overbuild situations in areas servicing approximately an additional 4% of our estimated homes passed. Additional overbuild situations may occur in other systems.

Local franchise authorities have the ability to impose additional regulatory constraints on our business, which could further increase our expenses.

In addition to the franchise agreement, cable authorities in some jurisdictions have adopted cable regulatory ordinances that further regulate the operation of cable systems. This additional regulation increases the cost of operating our business. We cannot assure you that the local franchising authorities will not impose new and more restrictive requirements. Local franchising authorities also generally have the power to reduce rates and order refunds on the rates charged for basic services.

Further regulation of the cable industry could cause us to delay or cancel service or programming enhancements, or impair our ability to raise rates to cover our increasing costs, resulting in increased losses.

Currently, rate regulation is strictly limited to the basic service tier and associated equipment and installation activities. However, the FCC and the U.S. Congress continue to be concerned that cable rate increases are exceeding inflation. It is possible that either the FCC or the U.S. Congress will again restrict the ability of cable system operators to implement rate increases. Should this occur, it would impede our ability to raise our rates. If we are unable to raise our rates in response to increasing costs, our losses would increase.

There has been considerable legislative and regulatory interest in requiring cable operators to offer historically bundled programming services on an á la carte basis, or to at least offer a separately available child-friendly “Family Tier.” It is possible that new marketing restrictions could be adopted in the future. Such restrictions could adversely affect our operations.

Actions by pole owners might subject us to significantly increased pole attachment costs.

Pole attachments are cable wires that are attached to utility poles. Cable system attachments to public utility poles historically have been regulated at the federal or state level, generally resulting in favorable pole attachment rates for attachments used to provide cable service. The FCC clarified that a cable operator's favorable pole rates are not endangered by the provision of Internet access, and that approach ultimately was upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. Despite the existing regulatory regime, utility pole owners in many areas are attempting to raise pole attachment fees and impose additional costs on cable operators and others. The favorable pole attachment rates afforded cable operators under federal law can be increased by utility companies if the operator provides telecommunications services, in addition to cable service, over cable wires attached to utility poles. To date, VoIP service has not been classified as either a telecommunications service or cable service under the Communications Act. If VoIP were classified as a telecommunications service under the Communications Act by the FCC, a state Public Utility Commission, or an appropriate court, it might result in significantly increased pole attachment costs for us, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. We are a defendant in at least one lawsuit where the utility company claims that we should pay an increased rate on its poles. Any significant increased pole attachment costs could have a material adverse impact on our profitability and discourage system upgrades and the introduction of new products and services.

We may be required to provide access to our networks to other Internet service providers which could significantly increase our competition and adversely affect our ability to provide new products and services.

A number of companies, including independent Internet service providers (“ISPs”), have requested local authorities and the FCC to require cable operators to provide non-discriminatory access to cable's broadband infrastructure, so that these companies may deliver Internet services directly to customers over cable facilities. In a 2005 ruling, commonly referred to as Brand X , the Supreme Court upheld an FCC decision making it less likely that any nondiscriminatory “open access” requirements (which are generally associated with common carrier regulation of “telecommunications services”) will be imposed on the cable industry by local, state or federal authorities. The Supreme Court held that the FCC was correct in classifying cable provided Internet service as an “information service,” rather than a “telecommunications service.” Notwithstanding Brand X, there has been increasing advocacy by certain internet content providers and consumer groups for new federal laws or regulations to adopt so-called “net
 
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neutrality” principles limiting the ability of broadband network owners (like Charter) to manage and control their own networks. The proposals might prevent network owners, for example, from charging bandwidth intensive content providers, such as certain online gaming, music, and video service providers, an additional fee to ensure quality delivery of the services to consumers. If we were required to allocate a portion of our bandwidth capacity to other Internet service providers, or were prohibited from charging heavy bandwidth intensive services a fee for use of our networks, we believe that it could impair our ability to use our bandwidth in ways that would generate maximum revenues.
 
Changes in channel carriage regulations could impose significant additional costs on us.

Cable operators also face significant regulation of their channel carriage. They currently can be required to devote substantial capacity to the carriage of programming that they would not carry voluntarily, including certain local broadcast signals, local public, educational, and government access programming, and unaffiliated commercial leased access programming. This carriage burden could increase in the future, particularly if cable systems were required to carry both the analog and digital versions of local broadcast signals (dual carriage), or to carry multiple program streams included with a single digital broadcast transmission (multicast carriage). Additional government-mandated broadcast carriage obligations could disrupt existing programming commitments, interfere with our preferred use of limited channel capacity, and limit our ability to offer services that would maximize customer appeal and revenue potential. Although the FCC issued a decision in February 2005, confirming an earlier ruling against mandating either dual carriage or multicast carriage, that decision is subject to a petition for reconsideration which is pending. In addition, the FCC could reverse its own ruling or Congress could legislate additional carriage obligations.

Offering voice communications service may subject us to additional regulatory burdens, causing us to incur additional costs.

In 2002, we began to offer voice communications services on a limited basis over our broadband network. We continue to develop and deploy VoIP services. The FCC has declared that certain VoIP services are not subject to traditional state public utility regulation. The full extent of the FCC preemption of state and local regulation of VoIP services is not yet clear. Expanding our offering of these services may require us to obtain certain authorizations, including federal and state licenses. We may not be able to obtain such authorizations in a timely manner, or conditions could be imposed upon such licenses or authorizations that may not be favorable to us. The FCC has extended certain traditional telecommunications requirements, such as E911 and Universal Service requirements, to many VoIP providers, such as Charter. The FCC has also required that these VoIP providers comply with obligations applied to traditional telecommunications carriers to ensure their networks can accommodate law enforcement wiretaps by May 2007. Telecommunications companies generally are subject to other significant regulation which could also be extended to VoIP providers. If additional telecommunications regulations are applied to our VoIP service, it could cause us to incur additional costs.
  
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
 
None.
 
Item 2. Properties. 
 
Our principal physical assets consist of cable distribution plant and equipment, including signal receiving, encoding and decoding devices, headend reception facilities, distribution systems, and customer premise equipment for each of our cable systems.

Our cable plant and related equipment are generally attached to utility poles under pole rental agreements with local public utilities and telephone companies, and in certain locations are buried in underground ducts or trenches. We own or lease real property for signal reception sites, and own most of our service vehicles.

Historically, our subsidiaries have owned the real property and buildings for our data centers, customer contact centers, and our divisional administrative offices. Since early 2003 we have reduced our total real estate portfolio square footage by approximately 15% and have decreased our annual operating lease costs by approximately 28%. In addition, Charter has sold over $34 million worth of land and buildings since early 2003. We plan to continue to reduce operating costs and improve utilization in this area through consolidation of sites within our system footprints. Our subsidiaries generally have leased space for business offices throughout our operating divisions. Our headend and tower locations are located on owned or leased parcels of land, and we generally own the towers on
 
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which our equipment is located. Charter Holdco owns the real property and building for our principal executive offices.
 
The physical components of our cable systems require maintenance as well as periodic upgrades to support the new services and products we introduce. See “Item 1. Business - Our Network Technology.” We believe that our properties are generally in good operating condition and are suitable for our business operations.
 
Item 3. Legal Proceedings. 
 
We are a defendant or co-defendant in several unrelated lawsuits claiming infringement of various patents relating to various aspects of our businesses. Other industry participants are also defendants in certain of these cases, and, in many cases, we expect that any potential liability would be the responsibility of our equipment vendors pursuant to applicable contractual indemnification provisions. In the event that a court ultimately determines that we infringe on any intellectual property rights, we may be subject to substantial damages and/or an injunction that could require us or our vendors to modify certain products and services we offer to our subscribers. While we believe the lawsuits are without merit, and intend to defend the actions vigorously, the lawsuits could be material to our consolidated results of operations of any one period, and no assurance can be given that any adverse outcome would not be material to our consolidated financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.

We are a party to other lawsuits and claims that arise in the ordinary course of conducting our business. The ultimate outcome of these other legal matters pending against us or our subsidiaries cannot be predicted, and although such lawsuits and claims are not expected individually to have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations or liquidity, such lawsuits could have, in the aggregate, a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.
 
Item 4. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders. 
 
No matters were submitted to a vote of security holders during the fourth quarter of the year ended December 31, 2006.
 

34


PART II 
 
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities. 
 
(A) Market Information
 
Our Class A common stock is quoted on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “CHTR.” The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, the range of high and low last reported sale price per share of Class A common stock on the NASDAQ Global Market. There is no established trading market for our Class B common stock.
 
Class A Common Stock 
 
 
 
 
 
High
 
 
Low
 
2005
           
First quarter
 
$
2.30
 
$
1.35
Second quarter
 
 
1.53
   
0.90
Third quarter
 
 
1.71
   
1.14
Fourth quarter
 
 
1.50
   
1.12
 
2006
 
 
 
 
 
 
First quarter
 
$
1.25
 
$
0.94
Second quarter
 
 
1.38
   
1.03
Third quarter
 
 
1.56
   
1.11
Fourth quarter
 
 
3.36
   
1.47
 
(B) Holders
 
As of December 31, 2006, there were 4,326 holders of record of our Class A common stock, one holder of our Class B common stock, and 4 holders of record of our Series A Convertible Redeemable Preferred Stock.
 
(C) Dividends
 
Charter has not paid stock or cash dividends on any of its common stock, and we do not intend to pay cash dividends on common stock for the foreseeable future. We intend to retain future earnings, if any, to finance our business.
 
Charter Holdco may make pro rata distributions to all holders of its common membership units, including Charter. Covenants in the indentures and credit agreements governing the debt obligations of Charter Communications Holdings and its subsidiaries restrict their ability to make distributions to us, and accordingly, limit our ability to declare or pay cash dividends. See “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”
 
(D) Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
 
The following information is provided as of December 31, 2006 with respect to equity compensation plans:
 
   
Number of Securities
   
 
Number of Securities
   
to be Issued Upon
 
Weighted Average
 
Remaining Available
   
Exercise of Outstanding
 
Exercise Price of
 
for Future Issuance
   
Options, Warrants
 
Outstanding Options,
 
Under Equity
Plan Category
 
and Rights
 
Warrants and Rights
 
Compensation Plans
             
Equity compensation plans approved
by security holders
 
26,403,200
(1)
 
 
$ 3.88
 
34,327,388
Equity compensation plans not
approved by security holders
 
289,268
(2)
 
 
$ 3.91
 
--
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
TOTAL
 
26,692,468
 
 
 
$ 3.88
 
34,327,388
 

 
 
35

 
(1)
This total does not include 2,572,267 shares issued pursuant to restricted stock grants made under our 2001 Stock Incentive Plan, which were or are subject to vesting based on continued employment or 12,184,749 performance shares issued under our LTIP plan, which are subject to vesting based on continued employment and Charter’s achievement of certain performance criteria.
(2)
Includes shares of Class A common stock to be issued upon exercise of options granted pursuant to an individual compensation agreement with a consultant.
 
For information regarding securities issued under our equity compensation plans, see Note 20 to our accompanying consolidated financial statements contained in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.” 
 
(E) Performance Graph
 
The graph below shows the cumulative total return on our Class A common stock for the period from December 31, 2001 through December 31, 2006, in comparison to the cumulative total return on Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and a peer group consisting of the four national cable operators that are most comparable to us in terms of size and nature of operations. The Company’s peer group consists of Cablevision Systems Corporation, Comcast Corporation, Insight Communications, Inc. (through third quarter 2005) and Mediacom Communications Corp. The results shown assume that $100 was invested on December 31, 2001 and that all dividends were reinvested. These indices are included for comparative purposes only and do not reflect whether it is management’s opinion that such indices are an appropriate measure of the relative performance of the stock involved, nor are they intended to forecast or be indicative of future performance of the Class A common stock.
36

 
 
(F) Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities 
 
During 2006, there were no unregistered sales of securities of the registrant other than those previously reported on a Form 10-Q or Form 8-K.
 
Item 6. Selected Financial Data. 
 
The following table presents selected consolidated financial data for the periods indicated (dollars in millions, except share data):
 
 
   
Charter Communications, Inc.
 
   
Year Ended December 31, (a)
 
   
2006
 
2005
 
2004
 
2003
 
2002
 
                       
Statement of Operations Data:
                     
Revenues
 
$
5,504
 
$
5,033
 
$
4,760
 
$
4,616
 
$
4,377
 
Operating income (loss) from continuing operations
 
$
367
 
$
304
 
$
(1,942
)
$
484
 
$
(3,914
)
Interest expense, net
 
$
(1,887
)
$
(1,789
)
$
(1,670
)
$
(1,557
)
$
(1,503
)
Loss from continuing operations before cumulative effect of accounting change
 
$
(1,586
)
$
(1,003
)
$
(3,441
)
$
(241
)
$
(2,104
)
Net loss applicable to common stock
 
$
(1,370
)
$
(970
)
$
(4,345
)
$
(242
)
$
(2,514
)
Basic and diluted loss from continuing operations before cumulative effect of accounting change per common share
 
$
(4.78
)
$
(3.24
)
$
(11.47
)
$
(0.83
)
$
(7.15
)
Basic and diluted loss per common share
 
$
(4.13
)
$
(3.13
)
$
(14.47
)
$
(0.82
)
$
(8.55
)
Weighted-average shares outstanding, basic and diluted
   
331,941,788
   
310,209,047
   
300,341,877
   
294,647,519
   
294,490,261
 
                             
 
Balance Sheet Data (end of period):
                           
 
Investment in cable properties
 
$
14,440
 
$
15,666
 
$
16,167
 
$
20,694
 
$
21,406
 
Total assets
 
$
15,100
 
$
16,431
 
$
17,673
 
$
21,364
 
$
22,384
 
Long-term debt
 
$
19,062
 
$
19,388
 
$
19,464
 
$
18,647
 
$
18,671
 
Note payable - related party
 
$
57
 
$
49
 
$
--
 
$
--
 
$
--
 
Minority interest (b)
 
$
192
 
$
188
 
$
648
 
$
689
 
$
1,050
 
Preferred stock — redeemable
 
$
4
 
$
4
 
$
55
 
$
55
 
$
51
 
Shareholders’ equity (deficit)
 
$
(6,219
)
$
(4,920
)
$
(4,406
)
$
(175
)
$
41
 
 
(a)
In 2006, we sold certain cable television systems in West Virginia and Virginia to Cebridge Connections, Inc. We determined that the West Virginia and Virginia cable systems comprise operations and cash flows that for financial reporting purposes meet the criteria for discontinued operations. Accordingly, the results of operations for the West Virginia and Virginia cable systems have been presented as discontinued operations, net of tax for the year ended December 31, 2006 and all prior periods presented herein have been reclassified to conform to the current presentation.
 
(b)
Minority interest represents preferred membership interests in our indirect subsidiary, CC VIII, and since June 6, 2003, the pro rata share of the profits and losses of CC VIII. This preferred membership interest arises from approximately $630 million of preferred membership units issued by CC VIII in connection with an acquisition in February 2000. As part of the Private Exchange, CCHC contributed its 70% interest in the 24,273,943 Class A preferred membership units (collectively, the "CC VIII interest") to CCH I. See Note 22 to our accompanying consolidated financial statements contained in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.” Reported losses allocated to minority interest on the statement of operations are limited to the extent of any remaining minority interest on the balance sheet related to Charter Holdco. Because minority interest in Charter Holdco was substantially eliminated at December 31, 2003, beginning in 2004, Charter began to absorb substantially all losses before income taxes that otherwise would have been allocated to minority interest. Under our existing capital structure, Charter will continue to absorb all future losses for GAAP purposes.
 
Comparability of the above information from year to year is affected by acquisitions and dispositions completed by us. See Note 4 to our accompanying consolidated financial statements contained in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” and “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Liquidity and Capital Resources.”

 
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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. 
 
Reference is made to “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” which describes important factors that could cause actual results to differ from expectations and non-historical information contained herein. In addition, the following discussion should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements of Charter Communications, Inc. and subsidiaries as of and for the years ended December 31, 2006, 2005 and 2004.
 
Overview
 
Charter is a broadband communications company operating in the United States, with approximately 5.73 million customers at December 31, 2006. Through our hybrid fiber and coaxial cable network, we offer our customers traditional cable video programming (analog and digital, which we refer to as "video" service), high-speed Internet access, advanced broadband cable services (such as OnDemand, high definition television service and DVR) and, in many of our markets, telephone service. See "Item 1. Business — Products and Services" for further description of these terms, including "customers."

Approximately 88% of our revenues for each of the years ended December 31, 2006 and 2005, respectively, are attributable to monthly subscription fees charged to customers for our video, high-speed Internet, telephone, and commercial services provided by our cable systems. Generally, these customer subscriptions may be discontinued by the customer at any time. The remaining 12% of revenue is derived primarily from advertising revenues, franchise fee revenues (which are collected by us but then paid to local franchising authorities), pay-per-view and OnDemand programming (where users are charged a fee for individual programs viewed), installation or reconnection fees charged to customers to commence or reinstate service, and commissions related to the sale of merchandise by home shopping services.

The industry's and our most significant operational challenges include competition from DBS providers and DSL service providers. See "Item 1. Business — Competition.'' We believe that competition from DBS has resulted in net analog video customer losses. In addition, DBS competition combined with increasingly limited opportunities to expand our customer base, now that approximately 52% of our analog video customers subscribe to our digital video service, has resulted in decreased growth rates for digital video customers. Competition from DSL providers has resulted in decreased growth rates for high-speed Internet customers. In the recent past, we have grown revenues by offsetting analog video customer losses with price increases and sales of incremental services such as high-speed Internet, OnDemand, DVR, high definition television, and telephone. We expect to continue to grow revenues through price increases, increases in the number of our customers who purchase bundled services, and through sales of incremental video services including high definition television, OnDemand and DVR service. In addition, we expect to increase revenues by expanding the sales of our services to our commercial customers.

Our expenses primarily consist of operating costs, selling, general and administrative expenses, depreciation and amortization expense and interest expense. Operating costs primarily include programming costs, the cost of our workforce, cable service related expenses, advertising sales costs and franchise fees. Selling, general and administrative expenses primarily include salaries and benefits, rent expense, billing costs, call center costs, internal network costs, bad debt expense and property taxes. Controlling our expenses impacts our ability to improve margins. We are attempting to control our costs of operations by maintaining strict controls on expenses. More specifically, we are focused on managing our cost structure by managing our workforce to control cost increases and improve productivity, and leveraging our growth and increasing size in purchasing activities. In addition, we are reviewing our pricing and programming packaging strategies. See “Item 1. Business — Programming” for more details.

Our operating income from continuing operations increased to $367 million for the year ended December 31, 2006 from $304 million for the year ended December 31, 2005. We had positive operating margins (defined as operating income from continuing operations divided by revenues) of 7% and 6% for the years ended December 31, 2006 and 2005, respectively. The improvement in operating income from continuing operations and operating margin for the year ended December 31, 2006 is principally due to an increase in revenue over expenses as a result of increased customers for high-speed Internet, digital video, and advanced services, as well as overall rate increases. Operating loss from continuing operations was $1.9 billion for the year ended December 31, 2004. We had a negative operating margin of 40% for the year ended December 31, 2004. The increase in operating income from continuing operations and positive operating margin for the year ended December 31, 2005 was principally due to the impairment of franchises of $2.3 billion recorded in the third quarter of 2004, which did not recur in 2005.
 
 
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Although we do not expect charges for impairment in the future of comparable magnitude, potential charges could occur due to changes in market conditions.

We have a history of net losses. Further, we expect to continue to report net losses for the foreseeable future. Our net losses are principally attributable to insufficient revenue to cover the combination of operating expenses and interest expenses we incur because of our high level of debt and the depreciation expenses that we incur resulting from the capital investments we have made and continue to make in our cable properties. We expect that these expenses will remain significant.

Beginning in 2004 and continuing through January 2007, we sold several cable systems which reflects our strategy to divest geographically non-strategic assets to allow for more efficient operations, while also increasing our liquidity. In 2004, we sold cable systems representing a total of approximately 228,500 analog video customers. In 2005, we closed the sale of certain cable systems representing a total of approximately 33,000 analog video customers, and in 2006, we sold cable systems serving a total of approximately 390,300 analog video customers. In January 2007, we completed the sale of additional cable systems representing approximately 34,400 analog video customers. As a result of these sales we have improved our geographic footprint by reducing our number of headends, increasing the number of customers per headend, and reducing the number of states in which the majority of our customers reside.
 
In 2006, we determined that the West Virginia and Virginia cable systems, which were part of the system sales disclosed above, comprised operations and cash flows that for financial reporting purposes met the criteria for discontinued operations. Accordingly, the results of operations for the West Virginia and Virginia cable systems (including a gain on sale of approximately $200 million recorded in the third quarter of 2006), have been presented as discontinued operations, net of tax, for the year ended December 31, 2006, and all prior periods presented herein have been reclassified to conform to the current presentation. Tax expense of $18 million associated with this gain on sale was recorded in the fourth quarter of 2006.
 
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates 

Certain of our accounting policies require our management to make difficult, subjective or complex judgments. Management has discussed these policies with the Audit Committee of Charter’s board of directors, and the Audit Committee has reviewed the following disclosure. We consider the following policies to be the most critical in understanding the estimates, assumptions and judgments that are involved in preparing our financial statements, and the uncertainties that could affect our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows:

·  
capitalization of labor and overhead costs;

·  
useful lives of property, plant and equipment;

·  
impairment of property, plant, and equipment, franchises, and goodwill;

·  
income taxes; and

·  
litigation.

In addition, there are other items within our financial statements that require estimates or judgment but are not deemed critical, such as the allowance for doubtful accounts, but changes in judgment, or estimates in these other items could also have a material impact on our financial statements.

Capitalization of labor and overhead costs. The cable industry is capital intensive, and a large portion of our resources are spent on capital activities associated with extending, rebuilding, and upgrading our cable network. As of December 31, 2006 and 2005, the net carrying amount of our property, plant and equipment (consisting primarily of cable network assets) was approximately $5.2 billion (representing 35% of total assets) and $5.8 billion (representing 36% of total assets), respectively. Total capital expenditures for the years ended December 31, 2006, 2005, and 2004 were approximately $1.1 billion, $1.1 billion, and $924 million, respectively.

Costs associated with network construction, initial customer installations (including initial installations of new or advanced services), installation refurbishments, and the addition of network equipment necessary to provide new or advanced services, are capitalized. While our capitalization is based on specific activities, once capitalized, we track
 
39

 
these costs by fixed asset category at the cable system level, and not on a specific asset basis. Costs capitalized as part of initial customer installations include materials, direct labor, and certain indirect costs (“overhead”). These indirect costs are associated with the activities of personnel who assist in connecting and activating the new service, and consist of compensation and overhead costs associated with these support functions. The costs of disconnecting service at a customer’s dwelling or reconnecting service to a previously installed dwelling are charged to operating expense in the period incurred. Costs for repairs and maintenance are charged to operating expense as incurred, while equipment replacement and betterments, including replacement of cable drops from the pole to the dwelling, are capitalized.

We make judgments regarding the installation and construction activities to be capitalized. We capitalize direct labor and overhead using standards developed from actual costs and applicable operational data. We calculate standards for items such as the labor rates, overhead rates, and the actual amount of time required to perform a capitalizable activity. For example, the standard amounts of time required to perform capitalizable activities are based on studies of the time required to perform such activities. Overhead rates are established based on an analysis of the nature of costs incurred in support of capitalizable activities, and a determination of the portion of costs that is directly attributable to capitalizable activities. The impact of changes that resulted from these studies were not significant in the periods presented.

Labor costs directly associated with capital projects are capitalized. We capitalize direct labor costs based upon the specific time devoted to network construction and customer installation activities. Capitalizable activities performed in connection with customer installations include such activities as:

·  
Dispatching a “truck roll” to the customer’s dwelling for service connection;

·  
Verification of serviceability to the customer’s dwelling (i.e., determining whether the customer’s dwelling is capable of receiving service by our cable network and/or receiving advanced or Internet services);
 
·  
Customer premise activities performed by in-house field technicians and third-party contractors in connection with customer installations, installation of network equipment in connection with the installation of expanded services, and equipment replacement and betterment; and
 
·  
Verifying the integrity of the customer’s network connection by initiating test signals downstream from the headend to the customer’s digital set-top box.
 
Judgment is required to determine the extent to which overhead costs incurred result from specific capital activities, and therefore should be capitalized. The primary costs that are included in the determination of the overhead rate are (i) employee benefits and payroll taxes associated with capitalized direct labor, (ii) direct variable costs associated with capitalizable activities, consisting primarily of installation and construction vehicle costs, (iii) the cost of support personnel, such as dispatchers, who directly assist with capitalizable installation activities, and (iv) indirect costs directly attributable to capitalizable activities.
 
While we believe our existing capitalization policies are appropriate, a significant change in the nature or extent of our system activities could affect management’s judgment about the extent to which we should capitalize direct labor or overhead in the future. We monitor the appropriateness of our capitalization policies, and perform updates to our internal studies on an ongoing basis to determine whether facts or circumstances warrant a change to our capitalization policies. We capitalized internal direct labor and overhead of $204 million, $190 million and $164 million, respectively, for the years ended December 31, 2006, 2005, and 2004. Capitalized internal direct labor and overhead costs have increased in 2005 and 2006 as compared to 2004 as a result of the use of more internal labor for capitalizable installations, rather than third party contractors.
 
Useful lives of property, plant and equipment. We evaluate the appropriateness of estimated useful lives assigned to our property, plant and equipment, based on annual analyses of such useful lives, and revise such lives to the extent warranted by changing facts and circumstances. Any changes in estimated useful lives as a result of these analyses, which were not significant in the periods presented, will be reflected prospectively beginning in the period in which the study is completed. The effect of a one-year decrease in the weighted average remaining useful life of our property, plant and equipment would be an increase in depreciation expense for the year ended December 31, 2006 of approximately $168 million. The effect of a one-year increase in the weighted average useful life of our
 
40

 
property, plant and equipment would be a decrease in depreciation expense for the year ended December 31, 2006 of approximately $131 million.
 
Depreciation expense related to property, plant and equipment totaled $1.3 billion, $1.4 billion, and $1.4 billion, representing approximately 26%, 30%, and 21% of costs and expenses, for the years ended December 31, 2006, 2005, and 2004, respectively. Depreciation is recorded using the straight-line composite method over management’s estimate of the estimated useful lives of the related assets as listed below:

Cable distribution systems………………………………
 
7-20 years
Customer equipment and installations…………………
 
3-5 years
Vehicles and equipment…………………………………
 
1-5 years
Buildings and leasehold improvements……………….
 
5-15 years
Furniture, fixtures and equipment….……………………
 
5 years
 
Impairment of property, plant and equipment, franchises and goodwill. As discussed above, the net carrying value of our property, plant and equipment is significant. We also have recorded a significant amount of cost related to franchises, pursuant to which we are granted the right to operate our cable distribution network throughout our service areas. The net carrying value of franchises as of December 31, 2006 and 2005 was approximately $9.2 billion (representing 61% of total assets) and $9.8 billion (representing 60% of total assets), respectively. Furthermore, our noncurrent assets include approximately $61 million of goodwill.
 
We adopted SFAS No. 142, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets, on January 1, 2002. SFAS No. 142 requires that franchise intangible assets that meet specified indefinite-life criteria no longer be amortized against earnings, but instead must be tested for impairment annually based on valuations, or more frequently as warranted by events or changes in circumstances. In determining whether our franchises have an indefinite-life, we considered the likelihood of franchise renewals, the expected costs of franchise renewals, and the technological state of the associated cable systems, with a view to whether or not we are in compliance with any technology upgrading requirements specified in a franchise agreement. We have concluded that as of December 31, 2006, 2005, and 2004 more than 99% of our franchises qualify for indefinite-life treatment under SFAS No. 142, and that less than one percent of our franchises do not qualify for indefinite-life treatment, due to technological or operational factors that limit their lives. Costs of finite-lived franchises, along with costs associated with franchise renewals, are amortized on a straight-line basis over 10 years, which represents management’s best estimate of the average remaining useful lives of such franchises. Franchise amortization expense was $2 million, $4 million, and $3 million for the years ended December 31, 2006, 2005, and 2004, respectively. We expect that amortization expense on franchise assets will be approximately $1 million annually for each of the next five years. Actual amortization expense in future periods could differ from these estimates as a result of new intangible asset acquisitions or divestitures, changes in useful lives, and other relevant factors. Our goodwill is also deemed to have an indefinite life under SFAS No. 142.
 
SFAS No. 144, Accounting for Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets, requires that we evaluate the recoverability of our property, plant and equipment and franchise assets which did not qualify for indefinite-life treatment under SFAS No. 142, upon the occurrence of events or changes in circumstances which indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. Such events or changes in circumstances could include such factors as the impairment of our indefinite-life franchises under SFAS No. 142, changes in technological advances, fluctuations in the fair value of such assets, adverse changes in relationships with local franchise authorities, adverse changes in market conditions, or a deterioration of operating results. Under SFAS No. 144, a long-lived asset is deemed impaired when the carrying amount of the asset exceeds the projected undiscounted future cash flows associated with the asset. No impairments of long-lived assets to be held and used were recorded in the years ended December 31, 2006, 2005, or 2004, however, approximately $159 million and $39 million of impairment on assets held for sale was recorded for the years ended December 31, 2006 and 2005, respectively. We are also required to evaluate the recoverability of our indefinite-life franchises, as well as goodwill, on an annual basis or more frequently as deemed necessary.
 
Under both SFAS No. 144 and SFAS No. 142, if an asset is determined to be impaired, it is required to be written down to its estimated fair market value. We determine fair market value based on estimated discounted future cash flows, using reasonable and appropriate assumptions that are consistent with internal forecasts. Our assumptions include these and other factors: Penetration rates for analog and digital video, high-speed Internet, and telephone; revenue growth rates; and expected operating margins and capital expenditures. Considerable management judgment is necessary to estimate future cash flows, and such estimates include inherent uncertainties, including those relating to the timing and amount of future cash flows, and the discount rate used in the calculation.

 
41

 
Based on the guidance prescribed in Emerging Issues Task Force (“EITF”) Issue No. 02-7, Unit of Accounting for Testing of Impairment of Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets, franchises were aggregated into essentially inseparable asset groups to conduct the valuations. The asset groups generally represent geographic clustering of our cable systems into groups by which such systems are managed. Management believes such groupings represent the highest and best use of those assets.

Our valuations, which are based on the present value of projected after tax cash flows, result in a value of property, plant and equipment, franchises, customer relationships, and our total entity value. The value of goodwill is the difference between the total entity value and amounts assigned to the other assets. The use of different valuation assumptions or definitions of franchises or customer relationships, such as our inclusion of the value of selling additional services to our current customers within customer relationships versus franchises, could significantly impact our valuations and any resulting impairment.

Franchises, for valuation purposes, are defined as the future economic benefits of the right to solicit and service potential customers (customer marketing rights), and the right to deploy and market new services, such as interactivity and telephone, to the potential customers (service marketing rights). Fair value is determined based on estimated discounted future cash flows using assumptions consistent with internal forecasts. The franchise after-tax cash flow is calculated as the after-tax cash flow generated by the potential customers obtained (less the anticipated customer churn) and the new services added to those customers in future periods. The sum of the present value of the franchises’ after-tax cash flow in years 1 through 10 and the continuing value of the after-tax cash flow beyond year 10 yields the fair value of the franchise. Prior to the adoption of EITF Topic D-108, Use of the Residual Method to Value Acquired Assets Other than Goodwill, discussed below, we followed a residual method of valuing our franchise assets, which had the effect of including goodwill with the franchise assets.

We follow the guidance of EITF Issue 02-17, Recognition of Customer Relationship Intangible Assets Acquired in a Business Combination, in valuing customer relationships. Customer relationships, for valuation purposes, represent the value of the business relationship with our existing customers (less the anticipated customer churn), and are calculated by projecting future after-tax cash flows from these customers, including the right to deploy and market additional services such as interactivity and telephone to these customers. The present value of these after-tax cash flows yields the fair value of the customer relationships. Substantially all our acquisitions occurred prior to January 1, 2002. We did not record any value associated with the customer relationship intangibles related to those acquisitions. For acquisitions subsequent to January 1, 2002, we did assign a value to the customer relationship intangible, which is amortized over its estimated useful life.

The valuations used in our impairment assessments involve numerous assumptions as noted above. While economic conditions, applicable at the time of the valuation, indicate the combination of assumptions utilized in the valuations are reasonable, as market conditions change so will the assumptions, with a resulting impact on the valuation and consequently the potential impairment charge. At October 1, 2006, a 10% and 5% decline in the estimated fair value of our franchise assets in each of our asset groupings would have resulted in an impairment charge of approximately $60 million and $0, respectively.

In September 2004, EITF Topic D-108, Use of the Residual Method to Value Acquired Assets Other than Goodwill, was issued, which requires the direct method of separately valuing all intangible assets and does not permit goodwill to be included in franchise assets. We performed an impairment assessment as of September 30, 2004, and adopted Topic D-108 in that assessment resulting in a total franchise impairment of approximately $3.3 billion. We recorded a cumulative effect of accounting change of $765 million (approximately $875 million before tax effects of $91 million and minority interest effects of $19 million) for the year ended December 31, 2004 representing the portion of our total franchise impairment attributable to no longer including goodwill with franchise assets. The effect of the adoption was to increase net loss and loss per share by $765 million and $2.55, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2004. The remaining $2.4 billion of the total franchise impairment was attributable to the use of lower projected growth rates and the resulting revised estimates of future cash flows in our valuation, and was recorded as impairment of franchises in our consolidated statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2004. Sustained analog video customer losses by us and our industry peers in the third quarter of 2004 primarily as a result of increased competition from DBS providers and decreased growth rates in our and our industry peers’ high-speed Internet customers in the third quarter of 2004, in part as a result of increased competition from DSL providers, led us to lower our projected growth rates and accordingly revise our estimates of future cash flows from those used in prior years. See “Item 1. Business — Competition.”

The valuations completed at October 1, 2006 and 2005 showed franchise values in excess of book value, and thus resulted in no impairment.
 
42

 
Income Taxes. All operations are held through Charter Holdco and its direct and indirect subsidiaries. Charter Holdco and the majority of its subsidiaries are not subject to income tax. However, certain of these subsidiaries are corporations and are subject to income tax. All of the taxable income, gains, losses, deductions and credits of Charter Holdco are passed through to its members: Charter, CII and Vulcan Cable. Charter is responsible for its share of taxable income or loss of Charter Holdco allocated to it in accordance with the Charter Holdco limited liability company agreement (“LLC Agreement”) and partnership tax rules and regulations.

The LLC Agreement provides for certain special allocations of net tax profits and net tax losses (such net tax profits and net tax losses being determined under the applicable federal income tax rules for determining capital accounts). Under the LLC Agreement, through the end of 2003, net tax losses of Charter Holdco that would otherwise have been allocated to Charter based generally on its percentage ownership of outstanding common units were allocated instead to membership units held by Vulcan Cable and CII (the “Special Loss Allocations”) to the extent of their respective capital account balances. After 2003, under the LLC Agreement, net tax losses of Charter Holdco are allocated to Charter, Vulcan Cable and CII based generally on their respective percentage ownership of outstanding common units to the extent of their respective capital account balances. Allocations of net tax losses in excess of the members’ aggregate capital account balances are allocated under the rules governing Regulatory Allocations, as described below. Subject to the Curative Allocation Provisions described below, the LLC Agreement further provides that, beginning at the time Charter Holdco generates net tax profits, the net tax profits that would otherwise have been allocated to Charter based generally on its percentage ownership of outstanding common membership units, will instead generally be allocated to Vulcan Cable and CII (the “Special Profit Allocations”). The Special Profit Allocations to Vulcan Cable and CII will generally continue until the cumulative amount of the Special Profit Allocations offsets the cumulative amount of the Special Loss Allocations. The amount and timing of the Special Profit Allocations are subject to the potential application of, and interaction with, the Curative Allocation Provisions described in the following paragraph. The LLC Agreement generally provides that any additional net tax profits are to be allocated among the members of Charter Holdco based generally on their respective percentage ownership of Charter Holdco common membership units.

Because the respective capital account balances of each of Vulcan Cable and CII were reduced to zero by December 31, 2002, certain net tax losses of Charter Holdco that were to be allocated for 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005, to Vulcan Cable and CII, instead have been allocated to Charter (the “Regulatory Allocations”). As a result of the allocation of net tax losses to Charter in 2005, Charter’s capital account balance was reduced to zero during 2005. The LLC Agreement provides that once the capital account balances of all members have been reduced to zero, net tax losses are to be allocated to Charter, Vulcan Cable and CII based generally on their respective percentage ownership of outstanding common units. Such allocations are also considered to be Regulatory Allocations. The LLC Agreement further provides that, to the extent possible, the effect of the Regulatory Allocations is to be offset over time pursuant to certain curative allocation provisions (the “Curative Allocation Provisions”) so that, after certain offsetting adjustments are made, each member’s capital account balance is equal to the capital account balance such member would have had if the Regulatory Allocations had not been part of the LLC Agreement. The cumulative amount of the actual tax losses allocated to Charter as a result of the Regulatory Allocations through the year ended December 31, 2006 is approximately $4.1 billion.

As a result of the Special Loss Allocations and the Regulatory Allocations referred to above (and their interaction with the allocations related to assets contributed to Charter Holdco with differences between book and tax basis), the cumulative amount of losses of Charter Holdco allocated to Vulcan Cable and CII is in excess of the amount that would have been allocated to such entities if the losses of Charter Holdco had been allocated among its members in proportion to their respective percentage ownership of Charter Holdco common membership units. The cumulative amount of such excess losses was approximately $1 billion through December 31, 2006.

In certain situations, the Special Loss Allocations, Special Profit Allocations, Regulatory Allocations, and Curative Allocation Provisions described above could result in Charter paying taxes in an amount that is more or less than if Charter Holdco had allocated net tax profits and net tax losses among its members based generally on the number of common membership units owned by such members. This could occur due to differences in (i) the character of the allocated income (e.g., ordinary versus capital), (ii) the allocated amount and timing of tax depreciation and tax amortization expense due to the application of section 704(c) under the Internal Revenue Code, (iii) the potential interaction between the Special Profit Allocations and the Curative Allocation Provisions, (iv) the amount and timing of alternative minimum taxes paid by Charter, if any, (v) the apportionment of the allocated income or loss among the states in which Charter Holdco does business, and (vi) future federal and state tax laws. Further, in the event of new capital contributions to Charter Holdco, it is possible that the tax effects of the Special Profit Allocations, Special Loss Allocations, Regulatory Allocations and Curative Allocation Provisions will change
 
43

 
significantly pursuant to the provisions of the income tax regulations or the terms of a contribution agreement with respect to such contributions. Such change could defer the actual tax benefits to be derived by Charter with respect to the net tax losses allocated to it or accelerate the actual taxable income to Charter with respect to the net tax profits allocated to it. As a result, it is possible under certain circumstances, that Charter could receive future allocations of taxable income in excess of its currently allocated tax deductions and available tax loss carryforwards. The ability to utilize net operating loss carryforwards is potentially subject to certain limitations as discussed below.

In addition, under their exchange agreement with Charter, Vulcan Cable and CII have the right at anytime to exchange some or all of their membership units in Charter Holdco for Charter’s Class B common stock, be merged with Charter in exchange for Charter’s Class B common stock, or be acquired by Charter in a non-taxable reorganization in exchange for Charter’s Class B common stock. If such an exchange were to take place prior to the date that the Special Profit Allocation provisions had fully offset the Special Loss Allocations, Vulcan Cable and CII could elect to cause Charter Holdco to make the remaining Special Profit Allocations to Vulcan Cable and CII immediately prior to the consummation of the exchange. In the event Vulcan Cable and CII choose not to make such election or to the extent such allocations are not possible, Charter would then be allocated tax profits attributable to the membership units received in such exchange pursuant to the Special Profit Allocation provisions. Mr. Allen has generally agreed to reimburse Charter for any incremental income taxes that Charter would owe as a result of such an exchange and any resulting future Special Profit Allocations to Charter. The ability of Charter to utilize net operating loss carryforwards is potentially subject to certain limitations (see “Risk Factors — For tax purposes, there is significant risk that we will experience an ownership change resulting in a material limitation on the use of a substantial amount of our existing net operating loss carryforwards”). If Charter were to become subject to such limitations (whether as a result of an exchange described above or otherwise), and as a result were to owe taxes resulting from the Special Profit Allocations, then Mr. Allen may not be obligated to reimburse Charter for such income taxes. Further, Mr. Allen’s obligation to reimburse Charter for taxes attributable to the Special Profit Allocation to Charter ceases upon a subsequent change of control of Charter.

As of December 31, 2006 and 2005, we have recorded net deferred income tax liabilities of $514 million and $325 million, respectively. Additionally, as of December 31, 2006 and 2005, we have deferred tax assets of $4.6 billion and $4.2 billion, respectively, which primarily relate to financial and tax losses allocated to Charter from Charter Holdco. We are required to record a valuation allowance when it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred income tax assets will not be realized. Given the uncertainty surrounding our ability to utilize our deferred tax assets, these items have been offset with a corresponding valuation allowance of $4.2 billion and $3.7 billion at December 31, 2006 and 2005, respectively.

Charter Holdco is currently under examination by the Internal Revenue Service for the tax years ending December 31, 2002 and 2003. In addition, one of our indirect corporate subsidiaries is under examination by the Internal Revenue Service for the tax year ended December 31, 2004. Our results (excluding Charter and our indirect corporate subsidiaries, with the exception of the indirect corporate subsidiary under examination) for these years are subject to these examinations. Management does not expect the results of these examinations to have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations, or our liquidity, including our ability to comply with our debt covenants.

Litigation. Legal contingencies have a high degree of uncertainty. When a loss from a contingency becomes estimable and probable, a reserve is established. The reserve reflects management's best estimate of the probable cost of ultimate resolution of the matter and is revised accordingly as facts and circumstances change, and ultimately when the matter is brought to closure. We have established reserves for certain matters and if any of these matters are resolved unfavorably, resulting in payment obligations in excess of management's best estimate of the outcome, such resolution could have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations, or our liquidity.
 

44

 
Results of Operations 
 
The following table sets forth the percentages of revenues that items in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations constitute for the indicated periods (dollars in millions, except share data):
 
 
 
 
Year Ended December 31,
 
 
 
2006
 
2005
 
2004
                                     
Revenues
 
$
5,504
 
 
100%
 
$
5,033
 
 
100%
 
$
4,760
 
 
100%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Costs and Expenses:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Operating (excluding depreciation and amortization)
 
 
2,438
 
 
44%
 
 
2,203
 
 
44%
 
 
1,994
 
 
42%
 
Selling, general and administrative
 
 
1,165
 
 
21%
 
 
1,012
 
 
20%
 
 
965
 
 
20%
 
Depreciation and amortization
 
 
1,354
 
 
25%
 
 
1,443
 
 
29%
 
 
1,433
 
 
30%
 
Impairment of franchises
 
 
--
 
 
--
 
 
--
 
 
--
 
 
2,297
 
 
48%
 
Asset impairment charges
   
159
   
3%
   
39
   
1%
   
--
   
--
 
Other operating expenses, net
   
21
   
--
   
32
   
--
   
13
 
 
--
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5,137
 
 
93%
 
 
4,729
 
 
94%
 
 
6,702
 
 
140%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Operating income (loss) from continuing operations
 
 
367
 
 
7%
 
 
304
 
 
6%
 
 
(1,942)
 
 
(40)%
                                     
Interest expense, net
 
 
(1,887)
 
 
 
 
 
(1,789)
 
 
 
 
 
(1,670)
 
 
 
Gain (loss) on extinguishment of debt and preferred stock
   
101
         
521
         
(31)
     
Other income, net
 
 
20
 
 
 
 
 
73
 
 
 
 
 
68
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Loss from continuing operations before income taxes
and cumulative effect of accounting change
 
 
(1,399)
 
 
 
 
 
(891)
 
 
 
 
 
(3,575)
 
 
 
Income tax benefit (expense)
 
 
(187)
 
 
 
 
 
(112)
 
 
 
 
 
134
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Loss from continuing operations before cumulative
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
effect of accounting change
 
 
(1,586)
 
 
 
 
 
(1,003)
 
 
 
 
 
(3,441)
 
 
 
Income (loss) from discontinued operations,
net of tax
   
216
         
36
         
(135)
     
                                     
Loss before cumulative effect of accounting change
   
(1,370)
         
(967)
         
(3,576)
     
Cumulative effect of accounting change, net of tax
 
 
--
 
 
 
 
 
--
 
 
 
 
 
(765)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Net loss
 
 
(1,370)
 
 
  
 
 
(967)
 
 
  
 
 
(4,341)
 
 
 
Dividends on preferred stock - redeemable
 
 
--
 
 
 
 
 
(3)
 
 
 
 
 
(4)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Net loss applicable to common stock
 
$
(1,370)
 
 
 
 
$
(970)
 
 
 
 
$
(4,345)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Loss per common share, basic and diluted:
 
                                 
Loss from continuing operations before cumulative effect of accounting change
 
$
(4.78)
 
 
 
 
$
(3.24)
 
 
 
 
$
(11.47)
 
   
Net loss
 
$
(4.13)
 
 
 
 
$
(3.13)
 
 
 
 
$
(14.47)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Weighted average common shares outstanding
 
 
331,941,788
 
 
 
 
 
   310,209,047
 
 
 
 
 
   300,341,877
 
 
 
 
Revenues.  Average monthly revenue per analog video customer, measured on an annual basis, has increased from $67 in 2004 to $74 in 2005 and $82 in 2006. Average monthly revenue per analog video customer represents total annual revenue, divided by twelve, divided by the average number of analog video customers during the respective period. Revenue growth in 2006 and 2005 primarily reflects increases in the number of customers, price increases, and incremental video revenues from OnDemand, DVR and high-definition television services. Cable system sales, net of acquisitions, in 2004, 2005, and 2006 reduced the increase in revenues in 2006 as compared to 2005 by approximately $24 million, and in 2005 as compared to 2004 by approximately $30 million.


45

 
Revenues by service offering were as follows (dollars in millions):
 
   
Year Ended December 31,
     
   
2006
   
2005
   
2004
   
2006 over 2005
   
2005 over 2004
 
 
Revenues
 
% of Revenues
   
Revenues
 
% of Revenues
   
Revenues
 
% of Revenues
   
Change
 
% Change
   
Change
 
% Change
                                                 
Video
$
3,349
 
61%
 
$
3,248
 
65%
 
$
3,217
 
68%
 
$
101
 
3%
 
$
31
 
1%
High-speed Internet
 
1,051
 
19%
 
 
875
 
17%
 
 
712
 
15%
 
 
176
 
20%
 
 
163
 
23%
Telephone
 
135
 
2%
   
36
 
1%
   
18
 
--
   
99
 
275%
   
18
 
100%
Advertising sales
 
319
 
6%
 
 
284
 
6%
 
 
279
 
6%
 
 
35
 
12%
 
 
5
 
2%
Commercial
 
305
 
6%
 
 
266
 
5%
 
 
227
 
5%
 
 
39
 
15%
 
 
39
 
17%
Other
 
345
 
6%
 
 
324
 
6%
 
 
307
 
6%
 
 
21
 
6%
 
 
17
 
6%
 
 
       
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
         
 
 
 
 
 
$
5,504
 
100%
 
$
5,033
 
100%
 
$
4,760
 
100%
 
$
471
 
9%
 
$
273
 
6%

Video revenues consist primarily of revenues from analog and digital video services provided to our non-commercial customers. Analog video customers decreased by 210,700 and 79,100 customers in 2006 and 2005, respectively, of which 137,200 in 2006 was related to system sales, net of acquisitions. Digital video customers increased by 127,800 and 124,600 customers in 2006 and 2005, respectively. The increase in 2006 was reduced by the sale, net of acquisitions, of 42,100 digital customers. The increases in video revenues are attributable to the following (dollars in millions):

 
 
2006 compared to 2005
 
2005 compared to 2004
 
           
Increases related to price increases and incremental video services
 
$
102
 
$
119
 
Increases related to increase in digital video customers
   
58
   
18
 
Decreases related to decrease in analog video customers
   
(34
)
 
(76
)
Increase related to acquisition
   
6
   
--
 
Decreases related to system sales
   
(31
)
 
(21
)
Hurricane impact
   
--
   
(9
)
 
             
   
$
101
 
$
31
 

High-speed Internet customers grew by 283,600 and 306,000 customers in 2006 and 2005, respectively, of which 20,900 in 2006 was related to system sales, net of acquisitions. The increases in high-speed Internet revenues from our non-commercial customers are attributable to the following (dollars in millions):

 
 
2006 compared to 2005
 
2005 compared to 2004
 
           
Increases related to increases in high-speed Internet customers
 
$
146
 
$
135
 
Increases related to price increases
   
31
   
34
 
Increase related to acquisition
   
3
   
--
 
Decreases related to system sales
   
(4
)
 
(3
)
Hurricane impact
   
--
   
(3
)
 
             
   
$
176
 
$
163
 

Revenues from telephone services increased primarily as a result of an increase of 324,300 telephone customers in 2006, of which 14,500 was related to acquisitions, and 76,100 telephone customers in 2005. Approximately $6 million of the increase in 2006 telephone revenue compared to 2005 is related to an acquisition.

Advertising sales revenues consist primarily of revenues from commercial advertising customers, programmers and other vendors. In 2006, advertising sales revenues increased primarily as a result of an increase in local and national advertising sales, including political advertising. In 2005, advertising sales revenues increased primarily as a result of an increase in local advertising sales, and were offset by a decline in national advertising sales. In addition, the increases were offset by a decrease of $1 million in 2006 and $1 million in 2005 as a result of system sales. For the
 
 
46

 
years ended December 31, 2006, 2005, and 2004, we received $17 million, $15 million, and $16 million, respectively, in advertising sales revenues from programmers.

Commercial revenues consist primarily of revenues from cable video and high-speed Internet services provided to our commercial customers. Commercial revenues increased primarily as a result of an increase in commercial high-speed Internet revenues. The increases were reduced by approximately $1 million in 2006 and $3 million in 2005 as a result of system sales.

Other revenues consist of revenues from franchise fees, equipment rental, customer installations, home shopping, dial-up Internet service, late payment fees, wire maintenance fees and other miscellaneous revenues. For the years ended December 31, 2006, 2005, and 2004, franchise fees represented approximately 52%, 54%, and 52%, respectively, of total other revenues. The increase in other revenues was primarily the result of increases in franchise fees as a result of increases in revenues upon which the fees apply, and increases in installation revenues. The increases were reduced by approximately $2 million in 2006 and $2 million in 2005 as a result of system sales.

Operating expenses. The increases in operating expenses are attributable to the following (dollars in millions):
 
 
 
2006 compared to 2005
 
2005 compared to 2004
 
           
Increases in programming costs
 
$
143
 
$
104
 
Increases in labor costs
   
32
   
24
 
Increases in costs of providing high-speed Internet and telephone services
   
25
   
26
 
Increases in maintenance costs
   
15
   
24
 
Increases in advertising sales costs
   
14
   
4
 
Increases in franchise costs
   
11
   
10
 
Other increases, net
   
2
   
29
 
Increase related to acquisition
   
13
   
--
 
Decreases related to system sales
   
(20
)
 
(12
)
 
             
   
$
235
 
$
209
 

Programming costs were approximately $1.5 billion, $1.4 billion, and $1.3 billion, representing 61%, 62%, and 63% of total operating expenses for the years ended December 31, 2006, 2005, and 2004, respectively. Programming costs consist primarily of costs paid to programmers for analog, premium, digital and pay-per-view programming. The increases in programming costs are primarily a result of rate increases, particularly in sports programming, and in 2005 were offset by a decrease in analog video customers. In addition, programming costs increased as a result of reductions in the amounts of amortization of payments received from programmers in support of launches of new channels. Amounts amortized against programming expenses were $32 million, $41 million, and $59 million in 2006, 2005, and 2004, respectively. We expect programming expenses to continue to increase due to a variety of factors, including annual increases imposed by programmers, and additional programming, including high-definition and OnDemand programming, being provided to customers. Labor costs increased due to an increase in headcount to support improved service levels and telephone deployment.
 

47


Selling, general and administrative expenses. The increases in selling, general and administrative expenses are attributable to the following (dollars in millions):
 
 
 
2006 compared to 2005
 
2005 compared to 2004
 
           
Increases (decreases) in customer care costs
 
$
56
 
$
(2
)
Increases in marketing costs
   
38
   
23
 
Increases in employee costs
   
32
   
28
 
Increases (decreases) in bad debt and collection costs
   
19
   
(20
)
Increases (decreases) in property and casualty costs
   
17
   
(6
)
Increases (decreases) in professional service costs
   
(26
)
 
31
 
Other increases (decreases), net
   
21
   
(3
)
Decreases related to system sales
   
(9