http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ch...ouse-networks-2015-05-26?reflink=MW_news_stmp
Much more at the link above.
Much more at the link above.
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Charter Communications to Merge with Time Warner Cable and Acquire BrightHouse
- Thread starter Shard
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LumpOfCole
Member
Using Brighthouse and getting 150/10 Internet for a good price and without issue. I hope it doesn't get messed up.
Indeed, though isn't Charter supposed to be among the best of providers?
LumpOfCole
Member
Honestly I have no idea, I haven't used Charter since 2003 (I know because I still have my Steam ID to be an @charter.net email that has been dead for over 10 years).
If Comcast couldn't win approval I am having a hard time seeing how Charter is going to be able to pull this off.
If this does go through the first order of business should be to change the name from Time Warner Cable to..., anything, literally anything.
The Time Warner Cable brand is toxic at this point and isn't even part of fucking Time Warner anymore so what's the point in...,
I give up.
Well it certainly makes more sense than the Comcast merger.
The Time Warner Cable brand is toxic at this point and isn't even part of fucking Time Warner anymore so what's the point in...,
I give up.
Well it certainly makes more sense than the Comcast merger.
Why? As a current Time Warner customer I really hope this goes through.
There already is no competition though. In a lot of areas there's only one choice for cable and high speed internet. I can only get Time Warner where I am, so even though other cable companies exist it's not like there's competition.
Pop-O-Matic
Banned
They won't make you service better, they'll just make Charter worse.
That's a low bar. I have Charter. In the past they've arbitrarily raised my rates without explanation, and have harassed me with constant marketing phone calls and junk-mail.
Femmeworth
Banned
This will be extremely amusing to me if it goes through. My area used to be serviced by Charter Communications, and then they sold it to Cobridge Communications who then it sold it to Time Warner Cable after a year.
Why? You can't possibly think it will improve your service.
acheron_xl
Member
As a Charter subscriber, I'm really worried.
I'll believe this bullshit when I fucking see it.
I'll believe this bullshit when I fucking see it.
BertramCooper
Banned
Ehh, TWC and Comcast merging was on an entirely different level, given both Comcast's size and their ownership of NBC Universal.
Comcast has 27 million subscribers. Combined, Charter and TWC will have 24 million.
This could go through. Not saying I want it to - I definitely don't - but it's not nearly as big of a mountain to climb as the TWC/Comcast merger was.
In any case, thank God for Title II. Everyone needs to vote in 2016 to make sure it sticks.
Wafflecakes
Member
I feel like this one will get the go-ahead.
OldAsUrSock
Banned
This should be blocked just like with Comcast.
For years I heard everyone always complain about how shitty TWC is. I recently switched from Verizon DSL to TWC, and the change has been amazing.
Verizon was charging me $53 for 7/1 on a grandfathered dry-loop line. FiOS isn't an option in my building yet, despite living in Manhattan.
TWC is charging me $35 for 50/5.
Honestly, I should've switched earlier.
Seraphis Cain
bad gameplay lol
Yep, same exact thing here. Cobridge wasn't terrible, I guess. Didn't really have them long enough to make a solid judgement.
Really hope this doesn't go through, though.
it's more than just competing for home/business broadband customers in a given geographical area, it's about network interconnection rates, content licensing, and bullying services like netflix. when ISPs get larger the potential for anti-consumer behavior on all fronts increases greatly.
Wafflecakes
Member
To block a merger I feel that the government needs a compelling reason. With the Comcast deal I could see the compelling reason, as both companies are so large and entrenched in the industry, including NBC being a part of the bargain.
As much as I don't LIKE the idea of consolidation, I don't think that me not liking something is a compelling reason to stop them. So I say, let it go through.
As much as I don't LIKE the idea of consolidation, I don't think that me not liking something is a compelling reason to stop them. So I say, let it go through.
Probably, as it creates a near duopoly which has never been a position regulators have been afraid to establish. Comcast getting TWC would have been one huge juggernaut and everyone else feeding on scraps, so a near monopoly with real potential to remove "near" from that in short order.
As a Charter customer I'm not a fan because the TWC people need to stay the hell away from my service, but from a business/regulatory standpoint this is the best of a bad bunch. Time Warner will dump TWC. No new company is going to throw it's hat in the ring at the prices those currently in the business would value TWC at. Regulators can't expect the parent company of TWC to take pennies on the dollar for competitive balance reasons within a market segment they're trying to leave. So regulators need to regulate knowing that at some point they have to say yes to one of these deals. This one is a whole lot better than stalling another 6 months to a year and seeing Comcast come back around in some mildly re-worked proposal once again.
ElectricKaibutsu
Member
It would be great if this actually caused them to compete with Comcast. I really want another cable internet option in my area.
BertramCooper
Banned
Nah, they're never going to actually compete with each other. They have territorial monopolies and they're going to do their damndest to keep it that way.
This is why Title II is so important.
acheron_xl
Member
It would be fantastic if any cable companies competed, but they're singularly territorial like the mob. The cable cartels like stay out of each others' way.
Buddha Beam
Banned
Charter be like, "We're not fucking our customers. They're generally happy with us Higgins! How can we fix that?"
"We could... merge with one of the worst companies in America and adopt their practices!"
"We could... merge with one of the worst companies in America and adopt their practices!"
HarryDemeanor
Member
As somebody who currently has Charter cable I am just happy to get SportsNet LA in my home.
Let it go through FCC.
Let it go through FCC.
SliceSabre
Banned
As a TWC I'm on the fence here. I'm not exactly happy with the speeds I get for the price however TWC doesn't have a cap and I've seen how many GB of data I use a month and I'm thankful for not having a cap.
Exactly. They should be breaking these companies up and making them compete.
If they didn't let Sprint and Tmobile merge, I don't think they'd let this happen. Especially when I read this is basically the second, third and fourth largest companies merging.
The main issue being that there's no competition anyway. Maybe they'll deny it and set a better way for these places to compete.
The main issue being that there's no competition anyway. Maybe they'll deny it and set a better way for these places to compete.
SpaceHorror
Member
Not sure how I feel about this as a happy Charter customer. If it makes things better or things at least stay the same, whatever.
I just hope Charter doesn't finally fuck over its goodwill and join the villains.
I just hope Charter doesn't finally fuck over its goodwill and join the villains.
Empyrean Heaven
Member
NICE. Unlike the Comcast/TWC merger this makes me happy. Having frequently gone down to North Carolina (where they have charter) their internet is super fast even at the lower prices, so this should make things very very interestling.
Of course, now we're entering into having 1-2 cable providers nationwide again. We're already down to AT&T and Verizon for home phones, now Comcast vs. TWC will be a war.
Of course, now we're entering into having 1-2 cable providers nationwide again. We're already down to AT&T and Verizon for home phones, now Comcast vs. TWC will be a war.
metalslimer
Member
This better be blocked
fewer companies does not mean less competition. charter and TWC operate in virtually exclusive areas. The only real competitive difference if this were to happen is... a name change.. that's it.
Comcast was largely the same situation physically (actual owning copper in the ground). The big difference with Comcast is they were already the #1 provider by a substantial margin, on top of owning one of the largest entertainment production companies in the world. As someone else pointed out, these two merging STILL wouldn't be as big as Comcast, and would result in virtually no lost competition.
The dish situations years ago were also different, in that they actually WERE competition in any given area because of the way satellite can be obtained from almost anywhere in the continental US.
Anywho.. also as others have pointed out.. I mean it could go either way. Charter could be shitty'ed up by TWC... or TWC could be improved by Charter... who knows. Either way, I wouldn't be surprised if this goes through. Not really any major obstacles that I can see.
There's really no need to. Basically these are internet providers at this point, and there are typically a number in any given area.. The (formerly) phone company, the (formerly) cable company.. the wireless companies.. medium distance wifi services.. on top of that federal regulation requires the companies owning the copper and/or frequencies to allow others to buy capacity over those systems and resell it. tl;dr if there was actually an ability to compete in a segment, companies already have the ability to do so because of this regulation.. that they don't is a pretty strong statement on exactly how thin margins on the market are.
PHOENIXZERO
Member
I'm cool with this as long as it doesn't fuck things up on the Charter side and could be good news for the TWC side. Though I'm still hoping Charter increases their damn upload speeds at some point. 60/4 and 100/5 is just too out of whack.
Charter is not Comcast, Charter is pretty much a pimple on Comcast Media's ample ass.
Charter is not Comcast, Charter is pretty much a pimple on Comcast Media's ample ass.
AyaisMUsikWhore
Member
Like, no.... but I'm okay with this. Charter is not as big as Comcast so adding some fluff to their already existing market isn't terrible. Yet, they still run the risk of being too big and I hate thinking that way. I'm a town away from charter but I heard they aren't too bad, but they aren't exactly out the woods similarly to Comcast. We'll see...
shadyspace
Banned
How come TWC wants to be bought so bad?
The CEOs have huge buyout clauses in their contracts, that's why. Seriously.
Charter dumped their caps last year. I don't think they'd dare to bring them back with Title II now.
I think with this- I'm not as opposed as I am with Comcrap, but I'd want conditions on not screwing over areas with worse competition, and no data cap provisions as a condition to any acquisition.
BertramCooper
Banned
The risk with these mergers isn't competition. Cable companies don't compete with each other, so it's really not going to have much of an impact in that sense. They compete with satellite (at least in TV) and with U-verse/FiOS is select areas, but in large swaths of the country competition is virtually nonexistent.
The problem with Comcast, and what makes them so evil, is that they're trying to amass a huge number of cable/internet subscribers while also amassing a huge of amount of media. They want to be the ones making the content and delivering the content.
That's why shooting down the TWC/Comcast merger was critically important, and why stopping this merger is far less important.
The problem with Comcast, and what makes them so evil, is that they're trying to amass a huge number of cable/internet subscribers while also amassing a huge of amount of media. They want to be the ones making the content and delivering the content.
That's why shooting down the TWC/Comcast merger was critically important, and why stopping this merger is far less important.
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