Justice Department to block Comcast-Time Warner Merger

A year after Comcast announced they were planning to merge with rival American internet giant Time Warner Cable in a £30 billion contract things may not be looking so good. It has emerged that the deal does not have the authority or indeed the approval of many American regulators and authorities. Info has been leaked anonymously to Bloomberg and the New York Times that suggest the Justice Department itself may step in to block the merger. According to these unnamed sources, a large number of consume groups, politicians and executives from rival companies have expressed great concern that the merger would put too many customers under one company, monopolizing the market. While Comcast stated they would transfer 3 million customers to rival companies for the sake of fair trading, it looks like having the majority of American internet consumers handled by one company isn’t what the people want. Both Time Warner and Comcast have been working hard lately to try and improve their customer service, but this hasn’t done much to improve public feeling of the company as Comcast were voted most hated company in America, according to the poll by Consumerist.

Comcast voted worst company in America 2014.

The New York Times report says that while Comcast may negotiate deals and conditions with which to try and disparage the huge amount of negative opinion on the deal, the process hasn’t even been officially started with the Justice Department or the FCC. This leads many to believe that the deal may not take place at all, if these unnamed sources are anything to go by. Executive Directors for both Comcast and Time Warner seem confident that the deal will continue whilst main rival Charter have openly announced they will look to merge with other, smaller companies in a bid to compete. None of these sources were able to mention a time scale for how long it will take for negotiations to take place, and even if the report by the Department of Justice and FCC recommend blocking the deal, it can still continue with authority from the senior officials of the division.No one knows how long it may take for the various reviews to come to a conclusion, and even if the report recommends blocking the deal, it could be overruled by the division’s senior officials. More information will likely become available when Time Warner Cable announce their report alongside quarterly earnings 30^th of April or through Comcast’s slightly later report on 4^th of May.

Justice Department to block Comcast / Time Warner Merger