The sale of RCN Corp. to private equity firm should have little short-term impact, according to analsyt

David Joyce, a telecommunications industry analyst with Miller Tabak and Co., of New York said the Boston-based buyer procures media and information technology companies -- including Atlantic Broadband in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

“They’re known to be long-term owners of cable companies,” Joyce said. “There is operational logic to them acquiring RCN, because being in the Lehigh Valley dovetails with other operations they have in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware. We’re not expecting any real change.”

The news was both surprising and intriguing to RCN's local competitor, Service Electric. General Manager Jack Capparell said they would be interested in the Lehigh Valley holdings of RCN should Abry Partners decide to sell part of their system that includes customers in Philadelphia, New York City, Boston and Chicago.
“RCN was sold as an entity as opposed to on a system-by-system basis,” Capparell said. “We definitely would have an interest (in RCN’s Lehigh Valley holdings). But again, what Abry does after this remains to be seen. They know where we are.”