Comcast Broadband Gains Could Cause Deal Strain

[Commentary] For Comcast, broadband strength could prove a weakness.

In the second quarter, Comcast added broadband subscribers at a faster pace than the rest of the broadband industry. Regulators are in the midst of reviewing Comcast's proposed buy of Time Warner Cable. While the two don't compete against each other in any markets, one concern among critics of the deal is that the two together will control too much of the nation's high-speed broadband services, roughly 40%.

Netflix said that at the very least the government should impose a condition preventing Comcast from charging fees to Internet companies to guarantee faster content delivery. Building such a condition into any approval of the deal might also help Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler appease critics of his latest proposal to regulate net neutrality, which would allow broadband providers to charge such fees.