Comcast’s US$45.2bn merger with rival Time Warner Cable (TWC) will be scrutinised by the Senate Judiciary Committee on 2 April.
The Committee decided to review the deal because it was concerned about what impact it may have on consumers, the panel’s…
Comcast’s US$45.2bn merger with rival Time Warner Cable (TWC) will be scrutinised by the Senate Judiciary Committee on 2 April.
The Committee decided to review the deal because it was concerned about what impact it may have on consumers, the panel’s chair Senator Patrick Leahy said in a statement.
While the Committee cannot block the merger, the hearing will mark the deal’s first regulatory examination and allow advocates and opponents of the tie-up to state their case.
Comcast needs approval from the appropriate antitrust agency and from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) before it can close the deal.
The cable giant has already pledged to divest three million of its cable subscribers in a bid to pre-empt remedies that may be imposed by the regulators.
Comcast is required to submit documentation to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) by the end of the month and has said that it intends to file with the appropriate antitrust authority around the same time.
The filing will kick off the initial 30-day waiting period under US antitrust regulation, the Hart Scott Rodino Antirust Improvements Act (HSR).
The Comcast/TWC deal will create a cableco with 30 million subscribers, dwarfing the other players in the sector. Cox Communications is the next largest operator, which has around six million.
Expanding on why the Senate committee had to examine the tie-up, Leahy said: “Millions of Americans rely on cable connectivity to receive the programs they love and to access the internet at the fast speed needed as we conduct more of our lives online.”
“The pending merger is an important opportunity to examine how Americans access these valuable services as the video and online marketplace continue to evolve.”
Industry experts consulted by TelecomFinance last month expected the deal to be approved by the regulators without more subscriber divestitures.
However they thought it likely that the merger would be subject to a number of conditions, given how much clout a combined Comcast/TWC would have.
