Today, Free State Foundation President Randolph May and Senior Fellow Andrew Long filed comments with the FCC in the agency’s proceeding to consider the proposed Charter - Cox transaction. Below are excerpts from the Introduction and Summary and the Conclusion that capture the essence of FSF’s comments:
"We
evaluate the likely relevant impact that the proposed transaction would
have – that is, how it might affect the public interest, convenience,
and necessity – given the specifics of the proposal and, critically, the
broader competitive context that exists today. In short, we
find there is ample evidence that the proposed Charter/Cox transaction,
if approved, would benefit consumers by invigorating competition in the
broadband, mobile, and video marketplaces. We also conclude that, given
the de minimis extent to which the applicants' footprints
overlap and the indisputable widespread existence of competitive
pressures, there appear to be no substantial transaction-specific harms
that might offset those benefits.”
* * *
"[T]he
combination of Charter and Cox promises numerous consumer benefits.
These include lower costs, greater choice, and additional innovation in
traditional cable offerings (broadband and video) fostered by an
enhanced ability to compete with often much larger rivals, including Big
Tech platforms with global reach; (2) the expansion of Charter's hybrid
MVNO offering into Cox's footprint combined with lower costs through
greater scale; and (3) the "onshoring" of Cox customer-service jobs. And
given the lack of any meaningful overlap in service territories, not to
mention the high level of third-party competition in all three
marketplace sectors, there appears to be little, if any, basis for
concern that the transaction could result in significant harms."
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