EchoStar told FCC it wasn’t opposed to proposed AT&T Comcast merg...
EchoStar told FCC it wasn’t opposed to proposed AT&T Comcast merger but asked that Commission impose what it called “a narrowly tailored, merger-specific condition to eliminate the program access ’terrestrial loophole'” in new company’s territory. EchoStar said merger had…
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implications for its own proposed takeover of DirecTV, first of which is that deal would create “a veritable colossus” in market for purchase of programming and thereby would exacerbate what it said were disparities in price and other terms that existed between EchoStar and MSOs. “The EchoStar-Hughes consolidation will create the critical mass needed to begin to counter (even without being able to match) the overwhelming strength that AT&T-Comcast would be able to muster in the purchase of programming,” company wrote. EchoStar also said acceleration of broadband deployment that AT&T and Comcast cited as primary benefit of their merger “may further entrench” their power in provision of high-speed Internet, making it more important to introduce broadband satellite offering promised by EchoStar-DirecTV deal, EchoStar said. CWA said FCC should condition approval on service quality reporting requirements. AT&T Broadband in recent years has had record of not complying with commitments to local franchise authorities on system upgrades, services to schools and govt. and other issues, CWA said. Union also said AT&T Broadband had record of not complying with federal labor law and questioned whether deal would result in rate increases, service cutbacks, employment cuts and delays in rollout of new networks and services. Overbuilder RCN told FCC it should either reject deal outright or impose conditions that would ensure survival of competitors. RCN cited what it called anticompetitive tactics in pricing and program access. Specifically, RCN said at minimum it would want conditions demanding access for competitors to AT&T Comcast-affiliated programming on nondiscriminatory pricing and terms, prohibition of exclusive contracts between company and 3rd-party suppliers of programming and essential technologies and requirement for uniform subscriber pricing to deter company from predatory pricing and marketing tactics. BellSouth told FCC deal wasn’t in public interest. It argued that Commission could remove negative consequences of deal by eliminating regulatory disparities between cable and DSL providers such as itself and extending prohibition against exclusive contracts between vertically integrated cable networks and MSOs.