Comcast: Allowing Us To Get Immensely, Inconceivably, Ridiculously Massive Is 'Pro Consumer'

[unhappycamper]

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140213/05570926208/comcast-it-just-makes-sense-to-allow-us-to-get-immensely-inconceivably-ridiculously-massive.shtml

Comcast: Allowing Us To Get Immensely, Inconceivably, Ridiculously Massive Is 'Pro Consumer'
from the now-witness-the-fire-power-of-this-fully-armed-and-operational-battle-station dept
by Karl Bode
Thu, Feb 13th 2014 11:08am

Comcast has confirmed reports that the company will be acquiring Time Warner Cable in a deal estimated to be worth around $45 billion. With the ink on their NBC acquisition only just dry to the touch, the deal will tack 8 million broadband subscribers onto the company's existing 22 million broadband customers. Comcast is already the nation's largest fixed-line broadband company, largest cable TV provider, and third largest fixed-line phone company -- and that's before you include the company's NBC or other assets. From a geographical perspective the deal makes sense; Time Warner Cable filling in Comcast's coverage gaps and in particular giving Comcast the prized markets of Los Angeles and New York City, where Time Warner Cable has traditionally under-performed.

The problem is less of market share (the two companies didn't compete directly) but one of consolidated power; allowing one, massive company to control both the content and the conduit to your home across the vast majority of the country -- then just hoping they'll play nice with smaller competitors, startups and consumers. Never worry, insists Comcast, who states that they'll divest a few of these markets (most likely to failed Time Warner Cable suitor Charter Communications) so that they won't be quite as absurdly massive as they might have been.

In a memo (pdf) paving the way for what's sure to be a tough attempt at regulatory approval, Comcast's David Cohen trots out Google Fiber as an ambiguous example of why vertical integration and market dominance concerns no longer apply:

"In today’s market, with national telephone and satellite competitors growing substantially, with Google having launched its 1 GB Google Fiber offering in a number of markets across the country, and consumers having more choice of pay TV providers than ever before, Comcast believes that there can be no justification for denying the company the additional scale that will help it compete more effectively."

[democratisphere]

1. Consumer viewers will be the losers if this deal is allowed to go through.

Regional cable providers have no competition from any other cable providers and are actually a regional monopoly. The #1 Cable Provider should not be allowed to buy the #2 Cable Provider. The merger will cause many people will lose their jobs and cable service prices will rise.

[KoKo]

2. +1