Comcast merger a chance to narrow the digital divide

[Commentary] The California Public Utilities Commission is expected to decide whether Comcast's proposed takeover of Time Warner Cable's operations in California would be in the public interest.

An administrative law judge has recommended that the takeover be approved but with a number of conditions that have caused Comcast to cry foul. These include requiring the merged company to sign up 45% of the low-income households in its area for Comcast's discounted broadband Internet service, or at least as high a percentage as it has signed up among all homes in its territory. Comcast argues that simply offering its discounted "Internet Essentials" in Time Warner Cable's service area will be a boon to low-income families, given that they don't have access to anything like it today. But if Comcast expects to merge its way into those communities, the public benefit should be greater than if Comcast had chosen to compete with Time Warner Cable instead of buying it.

The California Emerging Technology Fund, which was created in 2005 as a condition of two blockbuster telephone company mergers, has shown that the right combination of partners and programs can yield sign-up rates of 45% and more. It's reasonable to demand as much from Comcast and any other broadband provider that wants to expand its turf without building a network and competing.