Company said it would sell itself by end of first quarter Time Warner Inc. and Comcast Corp. have agreed to acquire bankrupt cable operator Adelphia Communications Corp. for US$17.6 billion through a deal with Adelphia’s creditors, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.Representatives of Adelphia and Comcast on Friday declined to comment on the report. Time Warner could not be reached for comment.Greenwood, Colorado-based Adelphia is one of the largest U.S. cable operators, with more than 5.3 million customers in 31 states, according to information on its Web site. In 2002, the company filed for bankruptcy reorganization, and founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) John Rigas and Chief Financial Officer Timothy Rigas were indicted on fraud and other charges. They were convicted last year. The company is now run by a management team led by Chairman and CEO William Schleyer, a longtime cable executive. Adelphia said Feb. 4 that it expected to complete a sale of the company by the end of the first quarter.The acquisition by Time Warner and Comcast would have to be approved by Adelphia’s board of directors and a committee representing unsecured creditors of the company, the Journal reported. Cablevision Systems Corp. reportedly put in its own bid for Adelphia on Wednesday. Technology Industry