The
American Cable Association (ACA) is beefing up its legal and economic expertise
as it prepares a challenge to the Comcast/NBCU merger, according to the association.
ACA,
which represents small and midsized cable operators, has tapped Thomas Cohen,
partner in law firm Kelley Drye
to prepare testimony and come up with a list of the competitive harms ACA
sees coming out of a the transaction as currently constituted.
To
make ACA's case that the deal gives the combined company--Comcast is the
nation's largest cable operator--undue marketplace dominance over smaller
operators, the organization has also enlisted former FCC chief economist
William Rogerson.
"ACA
has retained these talented individuals to assist us in making our strongest
possible case against the Comcast-NBCU said ACA President Matt Polka in
announcing the new team.
Hearings
on the deal start this week in the House and Senate. The companies last week
filed with the Justice Department (antitrust review) and the FCC (public
interest review) for approval of the $30 billion meld.
