Time Warner Cable and Comcast are unlikely to merge at time when there is controversy over net neutrality
Just when cable and broadband companies seemed like “bad guys” in the eyes of government regulators, the redefinition of broadband makes them seem even worse, and the odds of a merger between Comcast and Time Warner is much less likely to happen, according to Bloomberg.
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The FCC might not have been happy with the notion of Comcast and Time Warner Cable hooking up to begin with, but with President Obama and other political leaders behind “net neutrality, ” or making broadband available to all, consolidation in the industry will appear to be a power grab.
The FCC has changed the regulation of broadband with a new definition of high speed internet service–from 4 megabits per second to at least 25 megbits per second, according to Bloomberg. Few service providers offer speeds at that rate outside of cable companies, and the new rules make it seem that operators like Comcast are hogging too much of the pie.
Under the new figures for high-speed internet, a Comcast-Time Warner merger would mean the combined company would have 54.9% of all broadband subscribers, and it is more likely that the FCC will consider the merger anti-competitive.
Democratic senators Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Al Franken of Minnesota have been vocal supporters of net neutrality, while Ted Cruz, thought to be a GOP presidential hopeful, has compared net neutrality to Obamacare, an analogy that has caused Senator Franken to say that Cruz “does not understand” net neutrality.
