Altice Files Cablevision Deal With FCC

Altice has officially filed its application with the Federal Communications Commission to buy Cablevision, telling the FCC the deal has no anticompetitive issues, will reduce vertical integration of programming and distribution, and should get expeditious treatment.

The FCC will still have to establish protective orders for how to deal with sensitive information, and set a comment cycle, but the deal is now in front of the commission officially, including the public interest statement. Altice is also trying to buy Suddenlink, a deal it announced in June. The combination of Suddenlink's 1.5 million subs — Altice's first proposed U.S. broadband video play — combined with Cablevision's 3.5 million would make it the fourth largest cable operator in the US.