Charter is backing away from a claim that Verizon slowed the company's ability to connect fiber lines to utility poles, resulting in a slowdown of broadband deployment in New York State. Charter was recently fined $13 million by the state for failing to adhere to rather modest broadband deployment goals affixed as conditions to its acquisition of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks. As an excuse, Charter tried to blame Verizon, claiming the company was blocking and slowing its access to necessary utility poles in the State.

Verizon, for what it's worth, has told New York regulators that Charter is simply looking for a scapegoat for its inability to adhere to basic merger conditions.

"It is Charter, not Verizon, who is responsible for its failure to meet its first-year benchmark, and the commission should dismiss Charter's complaint and reject Charter's transparent attempt to deflect the blame for its own failures onto Verizon," a Verizon lawyer told the state earlier this month.

As part of the Public Service Commission's approval of the merger, Charter promised to expand its network to 145,000 upstate residents and businesses, and add 36,250 new customers in the first 12 months after the deal was signed. But Verizon says Charter never even contacted Verizon to access necessary poles, and that the cable company "did not appear to have done any pre-closing planning" to ensure it could meet the targets.