EXHIBIT 10.02

                               Highland 2000, L.P.
                              ONE NORTH MAIN STREET
                              COUDERSPORT, PA 16915


                                January 17, 2001


Adelphia Communications Corporation
One North Main Street
Coudersport, Pennsylvania  16915

         Re:      Purchase of Notes of Adelphia Communications Corporation's
                  6% Convertible Subordinated Notes due 2006

Gentlemen:

         The undersigned hereby agrees to purchase directly from you, and you
agree to sell to the undersigned, upon the terms and subject to the conditions
set forth herein, at a per note price equal to the Purchase Price per Note (as
hereafter defined), one hundred sixty seven million three hundred seventy six
thousand dollars ($167,376,000) aggregate face amount of 6% Convertible
Subordinated Notes due 2006 (the "Notes"), of Adelphia Communications
Corporation, a Delaware corporation (the "Company"). The Purchase Price per Note
shall equal the sum of (a) the gross proceeds less underwriting discount
received by the Company per note from the underwritten public offering of the 6%
Convertible Subordinated Notes due 2006, for which the Company has executed an
Underwriting Agreement with the several underwriters named therein as of the
date hereof (the "Underwritten Public Offering") and (b) the Additional Amount
(as hereafter defined). The Additional Amount shall be equal to an amount
computed, to the eighth decimal place, as though interest were paid at the LIBOR
Rate In Effect (as hereafter defined) plus 75 basis points (0.0075) on the per
note amount determined under clause (a) of the definition of Purchase Price per
Note for each period of three months (or, in the case of the final period, any
portion thereof if less than three months) subsequent to the date of the closing
of the Underwritten Public Offering until the date of the closing hereunder. The
"LIBOR Rate in Effect" shall mean a rate determined on the first day of each
period of three months (or, in the case of the final period, any portion thereof
if less than three months) subsequent to the Underwritten Public Offering equal
to the quotient, expressed as a percentage (rounded to the nearest 1/100th of
1%), resulting from the division of (x) the average (rounded to the nearest
1/16th of 1%) of the interest rates per annum at which deposits of United States
Dollars are offered to money center banks in the London interbank market for

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deposits of three months by (y) the percentage equal to 100% minus the reserve
percentage applicable on that day under regulations issued by the Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System for determining the maximum reserve
requirement for a member bank of the Federal Reserve System with respect to
Eurocurrency liabilities having a three-month term. The Company shall determine
in good faith the LIBOR Rate in Effect for each such period. The terms of the
Notes shall be substantially identically to the 6% Convertible Subordinated
Notes due 2006 of the Company being sold in the Underwritten Public Offering,
other than the Notes shall be convertible into shares of the Company's Class B
Common Stock.

         Each of the parties hereto represents and warrants that it has full
power and is duly authorized to enter into and perform this agreement; that it
has all necessary corporate or partnership approvals (subject in the case of the
Company to any shareholder approval required by law) necessary to do so; that
the execution and performance of this Agreement will not conflict with the
organic corporate or partnership documents of it or any order of a governmental
body or agency (subject to any regulatory approvals or regulatory filings and
expiration of waiting periods required by law) or material agreement to which it
is a party or by which it is bound; and that this Agreement is enforceable in
accordance with it terms, subject as to enforcement to bankruptcy, insolvency,
reorganization, fraudulent conveyance and other laws of general applicability
relating to or affecting creditors rights and to general equity principles. The
parties hereto agree that the undersigned is entitled to rely on the
representations and warranties made by the Company in any underwriting or
purchase agreement entered into by the Company with the investment banking firm
or firms conducting the Underwritten Public Offering; provided, however, that
the undersigned represents and warrants to the Company that such representations
and warranties will be true and correct to the best of its knowledge.

         Each party's obligations hereunder shall be conditioned upon the
Underwritten Public Offering having been consummated, any required approvals
having been obtained, any required filings having been made and any required
waiting periods having expired, and the other party's representations and
warranties being true and correct on and as of the closing date for the sale of
the Notes hereunder (except (i) for representations and warranties which
expressly relate solely to an earlier date or time, which representations or
warranties shall be true and correct on and as of the specific dates or times
referred to therein and (ii) for representations and warranties which are not
true and correct due to matters subsequent to the date of the closing of the
Underwritten Public Offering which have occurred in the Company in the ordinary
course of its business, which have occurred in the Company and been authorized
by the Board of Directors of the Company or which have occurred in the Company
and been authorized by any individual affiliate of the undersigned who is an

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executive officer of the Company). A closing on the purchase of the Notes
hereunder shall be held at the principal executive offices of the Company at a
mutually agreeable date following the Underwritten Public Offering; provided,
however, that the closing shall occur no later than 270 days from the date of
the closing of the Underwritten Public Offering. At such closing, (i) the
Company shall deliver to the undersigned certificates for the Notes duly
executed in such name or names as the undersigned shall have requested bearing
appropriate securities laws legends, an opinion of counsel that the Notes have
been duly authorized, are validly existing and fully paid and a registration
rights agreement for the Notes in form similar to the existing registration
rights agreements, entered into in the three years prior to the date hereof,
between the Company and the undersigned or its affiliates and (ii) the
undersigned shall deliver to the Company the purchase price for the Notes in
immediately available funds. In the event that the Underwritten Public Offering
does not close, this Agreement shall be null and void and neither party shall
have any liability to the other hereunder. The obligation of the undersigned to
consummate the purchase of the Notes hereunder will be subject to termination in
the discretion of the undersigned if, prior to consummation, (i) trading in the
Company's Class A Common Stock has been suspended by the Securities and Exchange
Commission or the Nasdaq National Market or trading in securities generally on
the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq National Market has been suspended,
(ii) a banking moratorium has been declared either by Federal or New York State
authorities, or (iii) there has occurred any outbreak or escalation of
hostilities, declaration by the United States of a national emergency or war or
other calamity or crisis the effect of which on financial markets is such as to
make it, in the reasonable judgment of the undersigned, materially impracticable
to proceed with such consummation.

         The aggregate liability of the undersigned and any of its officers,
directors, shareholders, partners or other affiliates (collectively, the
"Undersigned Affiliate Group") for any and all losses, claims, demands whether
for specific performance or otherwise, damages, liabilities, obligations, costs
and expenses (including without limitation, reasonable fees and disbursements of
counsel however sustained or incurred, and including, without limitation, any of
the foregoing enumerated items arising from any action or proceeding involving
any third party) sustained or incurred by or claimed against one or several of
the Undersigned Affiliate Group or otherwise with respect to the subject matter
of this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby (collectively,
"Damages") is, and shall be, limited to an amount equal to the greater of (i)
the product determined by multiplying the number of Notes to be purchased
hereunder by the positive excess, if any, of the Purchase Price per Note over
the weighted average trading price during the twenty trading days preceding the
270th day from the date of the closing of the Underwritten Public Offering or
(ii) an amount determined by multiplying the number of Notes to be purchased
hereunder by the Additional Amount per note assuming that a closing on the sale
of the Notes had occurred on the 270th day from the date of the closing of the
Underwritten Public Offering. The Company agrees not to seek any recovery for
Damages or otherwise with respect to the subject matter of this Agreement and
the transactions contemplated hereby which when aggregated with any other

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recovery of the Company would result in the Company obtaining from the
Undersigned Affiliate Group an amount in excess of the amount permitted by the
preceding sentence for any and all Damages. In no event shall any of the
Undersigned Affiliate Group be liable for any special, indirect, or
consequential damages sustained by the Company or punitive damages as a result
of a breach of this Agreement or arising out of this Agreement and the
transactions contemplated hereby.

         No commissions or discounts shall be paid to any placement agent for
the purchase or sale of the Notes. The Notes shall be purchased and shall be
held for investment.

         This Agreement may be assigned by the undersigned to any affiliate of
the undersigned provided that a majority of John Rigas, Michael Rigas, Timothy
Rigas and James Rigas consent in writing to such assignment. This Agreement may
be executed in one or more counterparts each of which, taken together, shall
constitute one and the same agreement.

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         This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with
the internal laws of the State of New York for contracts made and to be fully
performed in such state without giving effect to the principles of conflicts of
law thereof.

                                           Very truly yours,

                                           HIGHLAND 2000, L.P., a Delaware
                                            limited partnership

                                           By: Highland 2000, LLC,  General
                                            Partner, a Delaware limited
                                            liability company


                                           By: /s/ Michael J. Rigas
                                                Authorized Member



Agreed to and accepted on this 17th day of January, 2001 by

ADELPHIA COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION


By:    /s/ Michael J. Rigas
Name:  Michael J. Rigas
Title: Executive Vice President