Us West Strikes Deal To Buy Cable Firm

Baby Bell US West seized a leading position in America’s telecommunications future with a $10.8 billion deal to buy Continental Cablevision, the nation’s third-biggest cable TV system owner.

The megadeal announced Tuesday is the first under a new law that lets phone and cable companies combine more freely. Those industries are each scrambling to become one-stop providers of phone service, TV programming and other services.

A takeover of Continental would give US West control or a stake in cable systems serving nearly one in every three homes that get cable TV service.

“This is a defining day for the US West Media Group,” its president and chief executive, Chuck Lillis, told a news conference.

Analysts said US West was paying a hefty price to get Continental. But Lillis said Continental gives US West a premium set of cable properties and a top-flight management team which will take over management of its own domestic cable business.

US West is already a major investor in the cable systems controlled by Time Warner Inc., the nation’s second-biggest cable system owner with about 11.5 million cable subscribers.