With the clock ticking on the government’s review of the Comcast-Time Warner Cable deal, Comcast execs met with regulators this week to bolster the cable giant’s case for the $45 billion mega-merger.
Comcast sat down with officials at the Federal Communications Commission to detail its proposal to acquire Time Warner Cable systems and to divest some 3 million subscribers as part of a side deal with Charter Communications.
The FCC’s 180-day merger review clock kicked off July 10. Those against the merger have until next week to make their case against the controversial deal, which has drawn criticism from rival satellite-TV provider Dish Network and video-streaming service Netflix among others.
In a follow-up letter to the FCC, Comcast tried to blunt concerns that the combined cable colossus will have a choke hold on high-speed Internet access.
Calling the focus on its share of the national broadband market “misguided,” Comcast argued it will reach 35.5 percent of fixed broadband. If wireless broadband is included, that figure would drop to 15.5 percent, Comcast said.
“The transaction will change nothing about competition for such services and the number of broadband choices available to consumers” because the cable companies operate in different markets, Comcast said.