Comcast Time Warner Cable merger squashed!

[Digerati]

I am not a Comcast or Time Warner Cable (TWC) customer (I have Cox Communications) but I am still happy this merger did not succeed.

Time Warner Cable today announced that the company and Comcast Corporation have mutually agreed to terminate their merger agreement

It was more the fact FCC said "No!" than a mutual agreement. And the FCC said no because a merger would have been very bad for consumers. They can still pursue a merger through the courts to get approval but that likely will result in court mandated and directed restructuring which would likely be more favorable to consumers. And Comcast and TWC appear to have no interest in deals that are better for their customers!

Comcast and TWC are at the very bottom in customer satisfaction among broadband providers. A merger would have likely resulted in a consolidation and trimming of resources, manpower and services. In a service oriented business already failing miserably in customer service, it is difficult to see how trimming services would be better for consumers.

Most importantly, this merger would have given one company control of ~30% of the pay-TV market and 57% of the broadband market. That much clout would allow them to stifle competition and bilk consumers with even higher rates. Rates, which in my opinion, are already ridiculously high.

So to the FCC regulators I say, :thumbsup2: :thumbsup2: :thumbsup2: !

 

[Aura]

I don't even live in the US and I think it's good news. I remember when Comcast thought about coming over to Canada, all the ISPs and Cellphone carriers were against it. They have came all together in an open-letter they published in the newspapers for a week, which was around 3 pages long and explained why Comcast coming to Canada was a bad idea. All of these arguments against was mostly due to the fact that Comcast have too much money, could buy antennas via some unfair law and all. Also, I see complains all the time about Comcast on the forums, not so much about Time Warner Cable, so I can't really say anything about them.

 

[Digerati]

mostly due to the fact that Comcast have too much money

Having too much money is not the problem, it is how they use it. I understand and accept that companies need to be profitable and make money for their shareholders. But that means they need to spend and invest those profits efficiently and wisely. And for service oriented companies, that means they need to keep their customers happy because happy customers are paying customers who will keep coming back.

 

[Aura]

The problem with having too much money for Comcast in Canada is that they would be able to buy everything like it's nothing, and also offer plans that are way less expansive than the other ISPs and Carriers in place since they make all their money in the US. And the thing is that in Canada, our speeds are so low and the plans for them are so expansive that despite Comcast's reputation, a lot of person would go with them anyway, and Canadians ISP and Carriers would loose a lot. It's hard to translate my exact thought in English, sorry.

 

[Digerati]

That problem is not exclusive to Canada. That's the same problem with any monopoly and a big reason this merger was blocked.

You say they could offer plans way less expensive, that is true. And that would likely force the other carriers out of business. And once out of business, then Comcast/TWC would move in and take over. Then with no competition for something everyone needs, they could raise the rates as pleased. That's why monopolies are illegal and why the Internet is being treated more and more like a utility, which is regulated by the government. And I am for that.

 

[Aura]

This is one of the argument that was brought forward in the open letter the ISP/Carriers wrote as well, yes. There's also another law in Canada that exists which apparently allows "outside" companies to bypass certain regulations in order to "ease" their implementation in Canada. However, it doesn't take account of the current size of the business and even if it's one that could make all the others put the key under the door, they have access to all these "bypass". Law, Marketing, etc. is really not my speciality but this is what I recall from it. If interested I could probably find the letter and post the translated version of it here.

And I'm for that as well, monopoly is such a dangerous concept when it comes to business that it's good to regulate it and/or not allow it.

 

[Corrine]

As a Time Warner customer, I am glad that the merger is not going forward -- not that TWC has put much into the infrastructure, at least in my area, but I am against what, IMO, would have been a monopoly.

 

[old rich]

Do the two companies operate in the same area anywhere? We had Time Warner here but Houston was "given" to Comcast a few years ago. Charter used to be here as well, but now it is just Comcast.

Comcast put in Fiber Optic cable here two years ago and the service in great.

 

[Wrench97]

I don't believe they do compete in any common areas, the only competition in the Philadelphia Area is from RCN in some townships and Verizon in some.
Funny thing is there are a couple boroughs/townships with all 3.

 

[Digerati]

I don't believe they do compete in any common areas

Me either. I think their goal was expand their reach by combining and joining forces.

 

[Jared]

Do the two companies operate in the same area anywhere? We had Time Warner here but Houston was "given" to Comcast a few years ago. Charter used to be here as well, but now it is just Comcast.

Comcast put in Fiber Optic cable here two years ago and the service in great.

Tech Support Forum

Trust you to say that Rich with your speed.
I'm jealous.

 

[Corrine]

I don't believe they do compete in any common areas

Me either. I think their goal was expand their reach by combining and joining forces.

Combining/joining forces and buying out anyone else.

Options are limited where I am to Time Warner Cable which provides both TV and Internet service. Frontier Network, which originally provided landlines only, provides Internet service and has a package that includes Dish Network for satellite service. I'm stuck with TWC because there are too many trees around my property. Even a Dish Network sales representative told me it would be a problem.

 

[Digerati]

Folks I talk to with satellite Internet are not happy with the speeds. I can get CenturyLink DSL or Cox cable here. I am actually pretty happy with Cox.

 

[old rich]

Choice here is Comcast, ATT DSL or the local phone company DSL. I had the local DSL for 6 years until Comcast laid the Fiber Optic cable, then I switched. Our office is on ATT and it is decent, but does match the Comcast speeds by a lot!

 

[jcgriff2]

We're down to only Optimum cable here now.

No FIOS.

Verizon DSL - they say all of their ports are full and currently have a 1 year+ waiting list.

Optimum probably knows this considering my bill just went from $108/month to $177/month - same exact services.

Lack of competition is costing us.

 

[Digerati]

My Cox bill just increase $9 to $186.61/month for advanced cable TV plus DVR with HD, and 50Mbps Internet. While I can't complain with my speeds:

I sure don't like paying for 50 cable channels I never watch just because the package I pay extra for includes the one or two channels I do watch. I will be glad when pay as you go comes.

I suspect the $9 increase is to pay for all the Cox junk mail I get several times a week pleading for me to add phone service to their bundle. :mad7:

 

[Corrine]

Speaking of Cox, the Wall Street Journal reported that TWC approached Cox but Reuters reported that TWC denied it approached Cox: Time Warner Cable Goes Shopping: Approached Cox for Deal, Told to Take a Hike • Stop the Cap!

After I read the above article about Cox at Stop the Cap, I finally tracked down Phil Dampier's thoughts about the failed merger. I haven't been keeping up with his blog as closely as I did in the past. Our Long Nightmare is Over At Last: Stop the Cap! Ponders the Failed Comcast-Time Warner Cable Merger • Stop the Cap!

 

[niemiro]

We're amazingly fortunate over here in the UK how cheap internet is. Loads of other stuff is much more expensive (20% VAT rate springs to mind), but internet is cheap. This is partially because the government has injected £2.5billion if memory serves (UK billion!) into a fibre rollout, which means that the private companies aren't footing the bill and so aren't needing to push up prices to pay for it.

 

[Digerati]

Thanks for that link Corrine. I am not a fan of big government, but at the same time, I think there are many places where the government steps in and takes over. And I think Internet access is one of them. It needs to be treated as a commodity and a non-profit utility.

Yeah, they need to do something similar here as they do in the UK and elsewhere. The problem is the same our post office has and that is there is so much land area with many square miles with only a few people within. So how do you share the expense of getting a level playing field to everyone?