Early last year, the Internet world buzzed at the possibility of a merger of two mega media conglomerates Comcast and Time Warner (For the love of all that is good…nnnnnnoooo!!!). That was my aloud thinking, but there are?a few things that have to happen first.
One is US government approval. There has been delay after delay, and we don’t even know is they’ll approve this merger. But Comcast VP David Cohen is optimistic this deal will be approved in the middle of 2015. What’s holding up the federal review is a dispute over FCC access to confidential contracts. Then there’s approval from state governments. In California, conditions were proposed for this merger. Comcast rejected California’s conditions. In New York, political and community leaders are concerned about Comcast and Time Warner’s poor customer service ratings. Some call for a promise from Comcast: Provide universal broadband for all New York City customers, then we’ll talk about backing the merger. Both California and New York’s Public Service Commission have delayed votes. And in North Carolina, VP Cohen is peddling the merger in the name of faster service. In fact, he promises service will be twice as fast. A state law prevents ?local broadband from crossing into other people’s territories. This could cause a huge hinder in their merge quest.
Comcast and Time Warner really expected this deal to be signed, sealed and delivered by Christmas 2014. Now, they will be lucky to have government approval by summer 2015. I’m concerned this deal will push and bully smaller cable companies out of business. Then there’s the ‘Too big to fail, too big to care’ factor. If this merge happens, and they’re the only candy store in town, this would give Comcast/Time Warner a license to charge and treat customers any way they please. I’m glad the Feds and some states haven’t given the okay yet. But I’ll be even happier if they deny it all together. Do you think the merge will ever pass through?