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11/22/2024 12:10:30 am

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Coalition Created To Oppose Comcast, Time Warner Cable Merger

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(Photo : Reuters) The Stop Mega Comcast Coalition has been formed on Wednesday and looks to fight the potential merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable.

The Comcast and Time Warner Cable merger is currently being reviewed by the FCC, after a half year of waiting for a decision.

Reports say the deal will not be settled until March 2015, giving public advocacy groups and companies against the merger to voice their complaints to the FCC.

One group, called the Stop Mega Comcast Coalition, looks to bring all available funds together to compete with Comcast's huge lobbying budget.

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Members from the group include Dish Network, Writers Guild of America, The Blaze TV and several public advocacy groups. The group wants to make sure the FCC and U.S. government hear both sides of the argument, not just the Comcast's side.

The mutual fear is that Comcast will gain too much control over TV and broadband, if this deal goes through. It would give Comcast 35 percent of all Internet broadband traffic and the second largest TV service in the country, behind Comcast.

Considering Time Warner Cable already stays out of Comcast's way, when it comes to broadband investment in the states, it is questionable how different the merger would be for the customers.

Comcast announced the acquisition for $45 billion earlier this year and has been the focus of most public hate. The merger comes at the same time the FCC will make a decision on net neutrality, which has neutered the amount of noise Comcast can make.

Another big merger is currently in consideration, AT&T and DirecTV. The implications are similar, if AT&T manages to acquire DirecTV for $48.5 billion, it may give the telecom giant too much power over TV and broadband, creating two superpowers in the U.S.

Various organizations and Internet based groups have fought Comcast, but the Stop Mega Comcast Coalition is one of the first to back the attack up with money.

Comcast spokesperson Sena Fitzmaurice claimed the group was focused on "self-interests" and were only a small part of the overall public opinion on the issue.

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