4 Democratic Reps Back Charter-TWC Merger

In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission and Justice Department, four Democratic Reps have weighed in in support of the Charter-Time Warner Cable merger. The FCC is approaching its 180-day shot clock on the deal, and the FCC is expected to circulate an approval with conditions late during the week of March 21 or the week after. That would almost certainly mean the DOJ was OK, too, since they coordinate reviews.

In the letter dated March 23, Reps Marc Veasey (D-TX), Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Terri Sewell (D-AL) and Gregory Meeks (D-NY) told attorney general Loretta Lynch and FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler they should consider the "significant" commitments Charter has made, including on creating jobs, offering high-speed broadband (30 Mbps) to low-income communities, and its policies of no data caps or modem rental fees. They said they are fine with the FCC scrutinizing the merger carefully, but urged it to give credit to Charter's diversity commitments and others, saying that combining with Time Warner Cable and Bright House (also part of the deal), would only "continue to raise standards across the country."