I'm pleased that the California Public Utilities Commission – finally! – approved the proposed Charter-Cox transaction, clearing the way for the merger to be consummated. It's worth remembering that the proposed merger was announced in May 2025. That's a long time ago in today's fast-changing communications marketplace.
It was easy to see from the get-go that this merger is much more likely than not to be pro-competitive and pro-consumer. This is because Charter and Cox do not compete against each other in any meaningful way in their broadband and video distribution businesses. The reality is that, in today's facilities-based multi-platform communications environment, they each confronted strong broadband and video competitors, whether from fiber providers, wireless companies, broadcasters, satellite operators, and not least, from giant Internet streamers like Netflix, YouTube, Amazon, and so on. Together, the combined Charter and Cox will be a stronger competitor in an indisputably dynamic marketplace – although there are certainly no guarantees for success for any of the market participants.
And an important final point: The current merger review process takes longer than it should, and the requirement for individual state approvals – like California's here – is one reason the process is unduly long. This is especially so when states use the transaction review process to extract so-called "voluntary" conditions from the merger applicants before granting approval, even though the conditions often are unrelated to the specifics of the merger.
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