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    Charter Close To Buying Time Warner Cable For Some $55B

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments1965 Views
    This Feb. 2, 2009 file photo shows a Time Warner Cable truck in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

    By Tali Arbel & David Koenig, Business Writers

    --

    Charter Communications Inc. is close to buying Time Warner Cable for about $55 billion, according to two people familiar with the negotiations.

    The people spoke on condition of anonymity Monday because of the private nature of the deal talks.

    One of the people said the deal will be announced early Tuesday morning.

    Charter had wanted to buy Time Warner Cable Inc. earlier, but Time Warner Cable chose a $45 billion offer from Comcast Corp. instead.

    Comcast walked away from the Time Warner Cable deal after regulators pushed back against it. Regulators had concerns that the two companies together would undermine online video competition. The combined company would have served more than half the country's broadband subscribers, and consumer advocates said a merger would limit choices and lead to higher prices.

    Time Warner Cable representative Ellen East and Charter spokesman Justin Venech both declined to comment on the talks between their companies.

    Cable companies are losing cable subscribers and facing more pressure from online services such as Netflix and Amazon for consumers who watch TV over broadband connections.

    Consumer advocates were waiting to learn more details about the deal but seemed initially to regard it with less hostility than the failed Comcast bid for Time Warner Cable, which would have created a behemoth much of the Internet access in the U.S.

    "I can't say that we're a big fan of industry consolidation, but realistically this doesn't really raise the same level of concern," said John Bergmayer, a lawyer with Public Knowledge.

    If antitrust regulators approve the deal, Bergmayer said, they should attach conditions addressing broadband affordability, customer service and other issues.

    Cable companies argue that their mergers don't hurt TV consumers because their systems don't overlap much — an argument that is disputed by consumer groups.

    Matt Wood, policy director of the Internet-consumer group Free Press, said the money that the cable companies spend on mergers doesn't go to helping customers.

    "Rather than buying each other up and cementing in place the local monopolies they already enjoy, they could be investing in their own networks to improve their customer service," Wood said. They could even go outside their current markets and compete against each other in more places, he said.

    Shares of Time Warner Cable closed Friday at $171.18. They have climbed 13 percent so far in 2015, compared with a 3 percent gain in the Standard & Poor's 500 index.

    Category:News
    Tags:Charter CommunicationsTime Warner Cable



    A Closer Look At Proposed Measures Designed To Curb Google’s Search Monopoly

    Thursday, November 21, 2024

    U.S. regulators are proposing aggressive measures to restore competition to the online search market after a federal judge ruled Google maintained an illegal monopoly for the last decade.

    The sweeping set of recommendations filed late Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Justice could radically alter Google's business, including possibly spinning off the Chrome web browser and syndicating its search data to competitors. Even if the courts adopt the blueprint, Google isn't likely to make any significant changes until 2026 at the earliest, because of the legal system's slow-moving wheels.

    Here's what it all means:

    What is the Justice Department's goal?
    Federal prosecutors are cracking down on Google in a case originally filed during near the end of then-President Donald Trump's first term. Officials say the main goal of these proposals is to get Google to stop leveraging its dominant search engine to illegally squelch competition and stifle innovation.

    "The playing field is not level because of Google's conduct, and Google's quality reflects the ill-gotten gains of an advantage illegally acquired," the Justice Department asserted in its recommendations. "The remedy must close this gap and deprive Google of these advantages."

    Not surprisingly, Google sees things much differently. The Justice Department's "wildly overbroad proposal goes miles beyond the Court's decision," Kent Walker, Google's chief legal officer, asserted in a blog post. "It would break a range of Google products — even beyond search — that people love and find helpful in their everyday lives."

    It's still possible that the Justice Department could ease off on its attempts to break up Google, especially if President-elect Donald Trump... Read More

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