Bloomberg reported Friday that Department of Justice staff attorneys were leaning toward recommending the Comcast/Time Warner Cable deal should not be approved and were close to making that recommendation.
That would still be only a recommendation—Federal Trade Commission staffers also reportedly advised the FTC that Google had violated antitrust rules in its search business, but the FTC concluded otherwise.
But the report adds to growing uncertainty about the deal, where Wall Street handicappers have been reducing their odds on approval, particularly given the combined company's broadband subs. Comcast points out that the deal will not lessen competition for broadband access since it does not compete with Time Warner Cable now for those subs, but it is the combined sub count under one company that critics point to.
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