Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Comcast and TWC Will Negotiate With Officials To Save Their Merger

Posted by samzenpus on from the lets-talk-about-this dept.

An anonymous reader writes with news about Comcast and Time Warner Cable's attempt to keep their proposed merger alive. "Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc. are slated to sit down for the first time on Wednesday with Justice Department officials to discuss potential remedies in hopes of keeping their $45.2 billion merger on track, according to people familiar with the matter. The parties haven't met face-to-face to hash out possible concessions in the more than 14 months since the deal was announced. Staffers at both the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission remain concerned a combined company would wield too much power in the broadband Internet market and give it unfair competitive leverage against TV channel owners and new market entrants that offer video programming online, said people with knowledge of the review."

12 of 101 comments (clear)

  1. And by negotiate ... by gstoddart · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Do we mean "bribery" or "campaign contributions"?

    This just sounds like a company trying to ensure it gets to have its monopoly and eat our cake too.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:And by negotiate ... by NotDrWho · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "bribery" or "campaign contributions"?

      There's a difference?

      --
      SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    2. Re: And by negotiate ... by jd2112 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If you or I do it, it's bribery. If a corporation does it, it's lobbying.

      --
      Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
    3. Re:And by negotiate ... by Jason+Levine · · Score: 3, Insightful

      That or "agree to concessions that they will only really abide by for a year or two and then will 'forget' about."

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
  2. How about... by TWX · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...they be denied the right to merge until they've satisfied all lack-of-service complaints within their respective monopolistic areas, fixed their customer service so that it's not abusive, and stop charging exorbitant amounts of money to customers for equipment that they've already depreciated for tax purposes?

    Oh, who am I kidding?

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    1. Re:How about... by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Bah, the entire purpose for the merger is to be able to do this crap on a larger scale.

      They don't give a crap about customers, they care about corporate profits, executive bonuses, and the price of cocaine and hookers.

      They want to give worse service, and charge even more for it. With even more customers they can sit on their infrastructure for even longer without upgrading it, all while claiming to have cutting edge service.

      Why do you hate America?

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    2. Re:How about... by TWX · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Hence the technical exam. If you don't pass it, you don't get to speak with tier-2 CSRs unless a tier-1 CSR escalates the call.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  3. Since they get to meet w/ the DoJ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Does that mean that concerned citizens will also have an opportunity to sit down with the Department of Justice and express their concerns against this merger?

    Seems only fair...

  4. Teddy Rooseveldt and trust busting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Oh how we need you now Teddy...

  5. Re:Got Fiber? by Overzeetop · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They'll be happy to fleece the rest of the 99% of us that don't have fiber. And if the heat gets to be too much, they'll just charge those in single provider areas more and roll out fiber to compete where Google forces their hand, letting everywhere else languish, all the while pointing out that rolling out Gfiber is causing their rates to go up, up, up, and there's nothing they can do about it because the FCC keeps upping their costs through redefining broadband.

    --
    Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
  6. No mutually acceptable options by danaris · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I would say it's unlikely to the point of ridiculousness that Comcast would ever accept the kinds of restrictions on the merger that would prevent things from getting worse than they are already, let alone start to reverse the merciless devastation of the public interest and regulatory capture that's already happened.

    I think the most likely outcomes of this are the DoJ allowing the merger with some relatively superficial conditions (like the 5-year enforcement of net neutrality regulations that was imposed for the merger with NBC/Universal) or blocking it entirely. Much depends on how much the DoJ people in question actually value their role as regulators, versus their role as toll (aka bribe) collectors.

    Dan Aris

    --
    Fun. Free. Online. RPG. BattleMaster.
  7. translation... by Lumpy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Really rich guys are getting upset that their plan to become even more rich is being held up.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.