Sen Franken warns merger would give Comcast 'unprecedented' power

Comcast’s proposed merger with Time Warner Cable would give the company "unprecedented" power, Sen Al Franken (D-MN) warned the Federal Communications Commission.

Sen Franken, who is up for re-election in 2014, told the FCC that the combination of the country's two largest cable companies “would position Comcast as a veritable gatekeeper over vast swaths of the nation's telecommunications industry, resulting in higher prices, fewer choices, and worse service for consumers in Minnesota and across the country."

“The proposed acquisition also would threaten innovation and economic activity on the Internet, and it would jeopardize the free flow of information and ideas on which our democracy depends,” he added. “Because the proposed acquisition does not advance the public interest -- but, rather, is inimical to it – [the merger] must be rejected.”