Senators' Letter to FCC on Comcast/TWC Not Risk for Deal, Says Gallant
A letter to the FCC from the leaders of the Senate's Antitrust Subcommittee about Comcast's planned buy of Time Warner Cable was “mildly positive relative to expectations” and more favorable in tone than a similar letter sent from the subcommittee…
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in 2010 during the Comcast/NBCUniversal transaction, Guggenheim Partners analyst Paul Gallant emailed investors. The letter, sent by subcommittee Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and ranking member Mike Lee, R-Utah, asked the FCC to focus on the effects of Comcast/TWC on over-the-top companies and the ability of independent programmers to enter the pay-TV market. A letter focusing on Comcast/TWC's national broadband reach would have been more concerning, Gallant said. Though that issue was raised tangentially by the senators' concern for OTT companies, the letter devotes little space to the matter, Gallant said. “Our view continues to be a slight edge to merger approval with conditions.” President Barack Obama's endorsement of Communications Act Title II regulation for ISPs may have exposed them to a higher risk of being overturned by a Republican-controlled Congress, Gallant said. That could make approving Comcast/TWC with net neutrality conditions “marginally more attractive to the FCC” and the Department of Justice, Gallant said.