COMPTEL: Charter/TWC Would Have Too Much Programming Clout

COMPTEL, which represents competitive communications network providers, has asked the Federal Communications Commission to deny the Charter/Time Warner Cable merger. In a petition filed Oct 13, COMPTEL focused on what it said would be the combined company's market power over video programming and its impact on broadband deployment. The group argues that combining Charter and Time Warner Cable would mean the company would be negotiating content purchases for 17.3 million video customers, making it the second largest multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) after Comcast. That, says COMPTEL, would give it "more bargaining power to elicit favorable terms from programmers and create a substantial barrier to future broadband investment and competition."

They say Charter's claim that the combined company would face competition from competitive broadband providers does not hold up, and they should know. "The crucial issue for determining whether the Transaction would be in the public interest is whether New Charter would face substantial competition in the future," COMPTEL told the FCC. "If New Charter were to face 'dynamic' broadband competition, it would come from the competitive community that COMPTEL represents. The feedback from COMPTEL's membership, however, is that New Charter's cost advantage for video programming would make irrational any thought of investing in broadband to compete against the new firm."