a bid topping $ 17 . 7 million was jointly proffered by time warner inc . and sbc enterprises on thursday to buy beleaguered adelphia communications corporation in an industry consolidation move . adelphia is the twelfth largest cable service provider in the united states with nearly 5 million subscribers . the price - stake grabbing bid trumps the original tci offering of $ 16 . 5 billion . the bid is under scrutiny by the presiding judge over the adelphia ' s chapter 11 bankruptcy filing , and must first be backed by the customer ' s creditors , in the range of $ 20 millions .
Time Warner is based in Cingular.