What's in our best interest?

Included in arguments for regulatory approval of its merger with Time Warner Cable and Bright House, Charter stated that it will comply with net neutrality rules even if they are later found to be illegal on appeal, and will continue to significantly invest in its broadband network.*

   

So, what happens if this merger and future ones are approved?**   Should we believe that we will be better off with fewer providers who may have greater scale and scope to provide all of our communication needs?  Isn’t this what the phone company was decades ago (as a regulated public utility)? 

Let competition thrive!  Both regulatory overreact and further industry consolidation will impede this from happening.

*The National Cable and Telecommunications Association supports Net Neutrality but not Title II reclassification.  (A position I agreed with.)    

**Highly unlikely Charter/TWC/Bright House is the last merger.

Former merger partners have contrasting plans for the set-top box

Within a few weeks of each other, former merger partners, Comcast and Time Warner Cable (TWC), announced different plans for the cable box that subscribers pay hundreds of dollars in fees to rent each year.  Comcast wants to leverage the data captured in those boxes and license it to third parties who are interested in knowing what/how/when we watch video programs.  TWC, on the other hand, is experimenting with getting rid of the box all together and replacing it with an app that interacts with media streaming devices such as Roku.  While both cable providers are among the two most hated firms in America (according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index), if TWC is able to make this happen (and merge with Charter), Comcast may find itself alone at the bottom.  Let’s see what happens!  

wsj.com: comcast-seeks-to-harness-trove-of-tv-data

cbsnews.com: time-warner-cable-lets-lose-the-cable-box