Charter Communications is buying Time Warner Cable (TWC) in a deal that values the latter, larger company at $78.7 billion. The two firms will merge together under the newly created parent company New Charter, which will become the second biggest cable provider in the US after Comcast.
Comcast previously attempted to merge with Time Warner Cable but abandoned those proceedings due to resistance from regulators like the FCC. The deal between Charter and Time Warner Cable still needs approval from regulators.
In a statement released after the announcement of this deal, Chairman of the FCC Tom Wheeler said: "The FCC reviews every merger on its merits and determines whether it would be in the public interest. In applying the public interest test, an absence of harm is not sufficient. The Commission will look to see how American consumers would benefit if the deal were to be approved."
In our opinion, with the limited amount of competition in the cable TV and internet industry, providers have had little incentive to improve infrastructure or lower prices. Charter’s acquisition of Time Warner Cable will only limit competition even more providing little to no benefit to the American consumer.
