Comcast on TWC: ISP Competition Won’t Be Altered

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published

WASHINGTON — In a 200-page-plus answer to the Federal Communications Commission on the proposed Time Warner Cable merger, Comcast used the agency’s own figures to argue that the deal would do nothing to alter ISP competition.

Opponents of the merger have been focusing on how many broadband Internet subscribers the new company would have, but Comcast has been pointing out that since the two MSOs are not directly competing for subscribers in all those markets, the deal would not reduce competition.

The cable company also said the deal would expand low-cost broadband to more potential users via Internet Essentials.

Comcast cited the FCC’s most recent (June 2013) accounting of the number of U.S. broadband service providers that are offering at least 10-Mbps downstream service.

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.