New York attorney general sues Charter over internet speeds

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed a lawsuit on Wednesday that accuses Charter Communications Inc's Spectrum cable unit of short-changing customers on internet speeds.

The lawsuit, filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, accuses Spectrum of systematically defrauding and misleading internet service subscribers by promising service it knew it could not deliver.

Online content that Spectrum could not deliver to customers included Netflix, Facebook and gaming platforms, according to the lawsuit. Schneiderman launched a probe into the matter in October.

Charter bought Time Warner Cable last year and re-branded the company as Spectrum.

Charter said in a statement that it was disappointed that the Schneiderman filed the lawsuit regarding Time Warner Cable's broadband speed advertisements that occurred prior to the merger.

"Charter has already made substantial investments in the interest of upgrading the Time Warner Cable systems and delivering the best possible experience to customers," the company said.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel and Anjali Athavaley; Writing by Anna Driver; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)