RCN Corporation

RCN (Residential Communications Network) was originally created in 1993 by developer David McCourt and Peter Kiewit Sons' Inc. Kiewit also owned MFS, a Competitive Access Provider (CAP). In a series of moves, RCN purchased C-TEC, the parent of Pennsylvania's Commonwealth Telephone, while MFS spun off its small residential telephone operations to RCN. MFS was later purchased by Worldcom. RCN/C-TEC became a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) when the Telecom Act of 1996 passed.

RCN then began its growth as a cable TV overbuilder, constructing competitor cable systems in markets that already had cable service. Most of its systems were partnerships with power companies, which provided rights-of-way on poles. RCN featured "triple play" (television, internet, and telephone) service though for some time its voice operations were largely resold incumbent telephone company lines. It purchased existing US East Coast Internet service providers Erol's Internet, UltraNet Communications, Interport, and JavaNet. On the West Coast, it purchased existing ISPs DNAI and Brainstorm. In Chicago, it bought into the market by acquiring overbuilder 21st Century Telecom. In Washington, D.C., they formed a 50/50 joint venture with local power company Pepco named StarPower Communications in 1999; they bought out Pepco's stake in 2004, and rebranded StarPower systems to the RCN name.

In 2004, RCN declared Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and on December 21, 2004, the court canceled all outstanding shares of RCN stock traded under the "RCNC" and "RCNCQ" symbols.

In early February 2009, RCN converted to an all-digital network. With the transition, the company was able to use the entire spectrum for digital and high-definition television broadcasting, reducing the need to compress signals.

ABRY Partners, a private equity firm, acquired RCN Corporation for $1.2 billion in 2010.

Acquisitions and selloffs

In 1996, RCN bought much of C-TEC Corporation. On January 21, 1998, RCN paid $110.5M for UltraNet in Massachusetts and Erol's in Virginia. On June 16, 1998, RCN paid $11 million in stock and $871,000 in cash for Interport Communications, Inc. On July 27, 1998, RCN paid $13.4 million in stock and $2.4 million in cash for Javanet, Inc.

In 1999 RCN won in a lawsuit of Cablevision v. Boston Edison. New York City-based Cablevision and the City of Boston had argued that RCN was unfairly working with the electric company's right-of-ways directly to bypass rules that governed other traditional cable companies who wish to attach to the utility poles or enter conduit.

In 2004, its New Jersey systems were spun off to a new company, Patriot Media, which was subsequently sold to Comcast in 2007. The owners of Patriot Media were later tapped to oversee RCN and Grande under ABRY Partners as Patriot Media Consulting.

On March 20, 2006, RCN bought Consolidated Edison Communications Holding Co., a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, for $32 million and $7 million in working capital.