Andre Yoskowitz
9 Jul 2014 20:38
Massive satellite broadcaster Dish Network (DISH) has met with FCC officials in an effort to try to get the proposed Time Warner Cable and Comcast merger blocked.
The deal will "present serious competitive concerns for the broadband and video marketplaces and therefore should be denied," the TV provider writes in their FCC filing. In addition, "a combined Comcast-TWC will be able to exercise its enormous size to leverage programming content in anti-competitive ways," claims DISH.
In the past, large deals have been allowed when either one or both companies makes concessions (such as selling spectrum in a wireless deal), but DISH does not believe there are "any conditions that would remedy the harms that would result from the merger."
As a combined company, TWC and Comcast would be far and away the largest cable provider in the U.S., and it would be almost a monopoly in many places, including home run markets like New York City and Los Angeles.
One major concern is how the merged company could leverage their size in negotiating distribution deals with content suppliers. In addition, both companies are also ISPs and would have the ability to block out rival video services if they so choose.
"Comcast-TWC will have at least three 'choke points' in the broadband pipe where it can harm competing video services: the last mile 'public Internet' channel to the consumer; the interconnection point; and any managed or specialized service channels, which can act as high-speed lanes and squeeze the capacity of the public Internet portion of the pipe," Dish told the FCC. "Each choke point provides the ability for the combined company to foreclose the online video offerings of its competitors."
All of these concerns (and plenty more) are sure to be at the forefront of many more months of discussions between regulators.
Source:
LATimes