Internet giant Time Warner Cable in May purchased the Houlton-based cable provider Polaris Cable for an undisclosed price.
Time Warner Cable Northeast LLC disclosed the May 1 purchase in a filing with state utilities regulators Friday, seeking approval to provide phone services in the service areas of Houlton, East Millinocket, Smyrna, Patten and West Enfield.
Nathalie Burgos, a spokeswoman for Time Warner Cable, said the company plans to transition Polaris customers to Time Warner billing and accounts in the third quarter of this year.
The move could eventually place Polaris customers in the hands of Charter Cable, which on Monday reached a deal to buy Time Warner for $56 billion. Charter is the third-largest cable provider in the country, and Time Warner is the second largest.
The largest cable provider, Comcast, earlier this year dropped its bid to buy Time Warner over federal antitrust approval, which the Charter deal also will have to clear.
Burgos said in an email that the merged service for Polaris customers will give them access to Time Warner’s “array of products, innovation and ability to provide an excellent customer experience.”
Polaris provides cable television, cable Internet and digital phone service in Houlton and surrounding towns.
It offers Internet service in Houlton, Hodgdon, Littleton, Monticello, Bridgewater, Oakfield, Smyrna, Medway, Howland and Enfield. It offers cable television in those towns as well as Danforth, Howland, Passadumkeag, Medway, Patten and Island Falls.