Charter Chief Executive Officer Tom Rutledge met the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) head in the recent week to discuss the terms of its planned acquisition of Time Warner Cable Inc TWC.N (TWC) and Bright House Networks.
During the meeting, Rutledge told FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler of his proposed broadband extensions to new customer locations. Charter and FCC also talked about the former's plan to let web companies such as Netflix Inc. to connect to its network free of charge. They also discussed ways on how to stop setting limits on data usage, Bloomberg reported. The meeting of Charter and FCC follows their March 16 meeting when they discussed the cable company's plan of expanding its residential network.
According to CA Reuters, Charter CEO and Wheeler discussed "the public interest benefits of its proposed transaction with Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks and the ways in which it will enhance competition," according to a filing with the FCC by Charter.
In May 2015, Charter claimed that they would acquire TWC in a $55.1 billion cash-and-stock deal. In March, Charter made an announcement again that it would purchase Bright House Networks in a $10.4 billion deal. If FCC would approved Charter's acquisition of TWC and Bright House, then it would be the country's second biggest internet service provider after Comcast, Arstechnica reports.
"Given the enormous threat to the growing online video market if an expanded Charter coordinates anti-competitive behavior with Comcast, we are hopeful enforcers are pressing for ironclad conditions," Gene Kimmelman, president of the Washington-based policy group Public Knowledge, said in an e-mail.
In a bid to have the deal approved by FCC, Charter has promised not to charge network operators and online content providers for direct connections to its network. The company also declared that they will follow net neutrality restrictions and would not levy data caps. Although the negotiation between Charter and FCC went beyond the 180-day goal, the cable company said that they are positive about the outcome of their productive conversations with FCC.
Charter is waiting for the approval of FCC and the antitrust regulators at the Justice Department. The decision of the California Public Utilities Commission will be due on May 12 while the Califormia Regulators have to make tentative decision on April 12.
