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The action should not cause any layoffs or affect services to customers, a company spokeswoman said Friday.
"We took an important step forward today, as planned, with our financial restructuring, which is good news for Charter and our customers, employees and vendors," said Anita Lamonte of Charter's corporate communications office in St. Louis. "Our customers can feel confident that we will continue to serve them as usual."
Along with the bankruptcy filing, Charter also filed motions requesting permission to keep employee wage and benefits programs running and to continue customer programs without interruptions, The Associated Press reported.
Charter serves about 40,000 people in Clarke and Oconee counties with cable TV, Internet and telephone services and employs 42 people, said Skip James, communications director for Charter in Georgia and Alabama.
The St. Louis-based company filed its prearranged bankruptcy several days earlier than the previously set date of April 1, which Charter announced in February.
A prearranged Chapter 11 means the company has gotten approval from its major bankers and creditors for a reorganization plan that will help it shore up its financial situation and emerge from bankruptcy in a shorter period than in a typical Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The filing, agreed to by 52 percent of the company's bond holders or creditors, reduces Charter's debt load by $8 billion and provides $3 billion in new money to support overall refinancing, Lamonte said.
Charter is controlled by Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen. The company will retain about $13 billion of debt on its books and will deal with those debtors through bankruptcy court.
The cable company racked up massive amounts of debt as it grew through acquiring cable systems and had ducked insolvency for years.
Charter's troubles also make it more vulnerable to competitors, which could target the cable operator's 5.5 million subscribers in 27 states.
While the majority of cable subscribers in Athens use Charter, a handful of homes are served by either Comcast or KLiP Interactive cable services, said Jeff Montgomery of the Athens-Clarke public information office.
Associated Press writer Deborah Yao contributed to this report.
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