Ownership

Shining a light on failed antitrust policy through a review of five mega mergers in the media and telecommunications industry: Comcast and NBCUniversal; AT&T and DirecTV; AT&T and Time Warner; Charter, Time Warner Cable and Bright House; and Disney and Fox. Each case study details the history and aftermath of these mergers, contrasting the companies’ promises of consumer benefits and pro-competitive outcomes with the post-merger realities, including higher prices, reduced choices, and harms to writers.

Braintree Electric Light Department (BELD) — a nonprofit, publicly owned power utility and broadband internet provider — announced it has sold its internet business to Comcast. The sales price was not disclosed. BELD said the deal will have no impact on its electric division. BELD’s approximately 2,500 internet and phone customers will have their service transferred to Comcast, beginning this year. Comcast has already been an incumbent provider in Braintree (MA) for 18 years. Comcast also announced it was buying Russell Municipal Cable TV in Springfield (MA).

Atlantic Broadband, the US’s eighth-largest cable operator, announced a major growth plan that will extend fiber services into communities not previously served by the company. Atlantic Broadband will invest $82 million in its current fiscal year to extend its reach to nearly 70,000 additional homes and businesses, providing Gig internet, home WiFi, Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) and voice services via advanced Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) technology.

Consolidated Communications, an US broadband and business communications provider headquartered in Mattoon (IL), secured a key approval for a multi-million investment deal it struck with private equity firm Searchlight Capital Partners, as the Federal Communications Commission signed off on the transaction, conditioned on terms laid out in a Letter of Agreement Consolidated signed with the Department of Justice. Under these terms, Consolidated must designate a US law enforcement contact who will have access

Verizon Communications closed its $6.25 billion purchase of prepaid cellular-service provider TracFone Wireless, cementing its lead in a market split among three major mobile-phone networks. Verizon previously agreed to buy the company from América Móvil SAB of Mexico for a combination of cash and stock.

The Federal Communications Commission has voted to approve—with strong consumer protection conditions—the transfer of control of TracFone Wireless from América Móvil to Verizon Communications. After rigorous review, the FCC found that the transaction, as modified by Verizon’s enforceable commitments, will make Verizon and TracFone stronger providers of prepaid and Lifeline services. Given the communities that TracFone primarily serves within the US, the FCC adopted a number of binding conditions to address potential harms and to ensure the transaction will be in the public interest.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), in ongoing efforts to ensure reliable and affordable telecommunication services, approved Verizon Communications’ acquisition of TracFone Wireless with consumer protection conditions to ensure the acquisition will be in the public interest. The CPUC's Decision finds that in order for Verizon and TracFone to meet the burden of proving their acquisition is in the public interest, they must adopt a number of specific measures to protect consumers-including California Lifeline customers-from price increases and service disruptions.

EU lawmakers have reached a breakthrough on how to target tech companies, including Apple and Google, as part of moves by Brussels to curb anti-competitive practices in the digital economy. The European Parliament’s main political parties agreed to a deal that would apply to companies with a market capitalisation of at least €80 billion and offering at least one internet service, such as online search. It means the rules would draw more companies than thought into the EU’s planned Digital Markets Act (DMA), a wide-ranging effort to rein in Big Tech.

Cable One has purchased Cable America Missouri, a small broadband and cable operator with about 14,000 customers in rural areas in the central part of the state, for about $113 million in cash. Cable One CEO Julie Laulis said the Cable America properties are close to markets the company purchased in 2019 with its buy of Fidelity Communications. “Due to its adjacency to our Fidelity markets as well as alignment with culture, growth and competitive profile, we expect Cable America to be an excellent fit to our growing family of brands,” Laulis said.

Passage of the Infrastructure legislation on November 5 was truly historic—surely the biggest boost ever to bringing high-speed broadband to every American household. While we get about the job of building broadband, we need to take up other communications issues that have been of even longer gestation and which have just as much, maybe more, urgency for our country. High on my list is media reform.