NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) — Comcast is reportedly planning to abandon its $45 billion bid to acquire competitor Time Warner Cable after facing public outcry and regulatory scrutiny over the anticompetitive ramifications of the merger.
If the deal had concluded successfully, the merger would have seen the two largest cable operators/internet service providers combined into a single entity that would have controlled as much as 50% of the country's internet customers.
According to the Bloomberg, the death blow for the deal came on Wednesday after Jonathan Sallet, general counsel of the F.C.C. indicated during a meeting with his staff that he was going to recommend actions that effectively amounted to the blocking of the merger.
The proposed deal drew little public support from the public, with most people believing the merger would lead to higher prices. A poll conducted by Consumer Reports found just 11% of the public supporting the merger.
The deal was also opposed by many technology firms who argued that the merger allow the combined company to thwart any rivals that threaten its business model.
"Allowing this merger would exacerbate a number of competitive issues in a market that is already highly concentrated. Acute competitive problems already exist in the last-mile broadband access market and not only will this merger lead to even less competition, but it would make competitive entry less likely in the future," Ed Black, President & CEO of the Computer & Communications Industry Association wrote in a letter to Senator Al Franken. The CCIA is a trade association and advocacy group whose members include Facebook, Google, Intuit, LightSquared, Microsoft, nVidia, Sprint Nextel, and Yahoo. – Staff Writers
