Comcast: This is why regulators should approve the Time Warner Cable merger [View all]

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Comcast: This is why regulators should approve the Time Warner Cable merger
By Brian Fung
March 3 at 3:11 pm

To help regulators swallow the idea of a merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable — the nation's two biggest cable companies — Comcast needs to prove that it can uphold any commitments or sacrifices it agrees to a part of the deal. As if to drive that point home, the company said on Monday that it had met or exceeded all of the obligations it accepted as conditions of a key, previous merger with NBC-Universal in 2011.

The company compliance report comes days after Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) wrote a letter to federal regulators accusing Comcast of failing to meet its requirements in the NBC-Universal merger of 2011.

"It's not unlike a political campaign where somebody is in a process that's going to be prolonged," said industry analyst Jeff Silva. "You want to respond to any negative aspersions cast your way, because you never know how the momentum is going to swing."

Beginning with a requirement to expand broadband access to low-income families, Comcast said its Internet Essentials program connected its millionth user in October. The program makes the Web available for $10 a month to families of students that qualify for free or discounted school lunches. Another requirement of the merger was that Comcast add 1,500 miles' worth of cable to its broadband network every year for three years; Comcast says it's built 6,289 miles — meeting the deadline and besting the requirement by 41 percent.