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Six leading Democratic senators have written to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Department of Justice (DoJ) asking them to reject the proposed $45.2 billion acquisition of Time Warner by Comcast.
In the two-page letter, signed by Senators Franken, Sanders, Markey, Wyden, Warren, and Blumenthal, the senators warn that "Comcast-TWC's unmatched power in the telecommunications industry would lead to higher prices, fewer choices, and poorer quality services for Americans."
Sources have told the Wall Street Journal that both the FCC and DoJ are not happy with the proposed merger, and that the FCC may hold a formal hearing into the deal soon. Bloomberg also reported that staff attorneys at the DoJ's antitrust division are prepared to recommend blocking the deal [autoplay video].
(Score: 5, Interesting) by morgauxo on Wednesday April 22 2015, @01:13PM
I'd rather see them split along service lines than limited geographically. Most communities only get one cable company anyway. City councils want to limit the number of lines ran so that means we don't get competition. Limiting Comcast geographically isn't going to give anybody competition. It just means that some areas get one monopolist, other areas get another.
But... Comcast's ownership of media producers such as NBC/Universal and others.. that has GOT to go! By owning the content production AND the distribution they certainly have both the motivation and the means to "pick the winners"! I'm a little less sure how to implement this since they are using the same wires but I would like to see the TV and Internet sides split up too. Television has always been Comcast's bread and butter. Internet access is a competitor to that. Comcast is both motivated and has the means to slow down Internet development in order to keep milking the television cow.