Comcast-TWC Merger Dead: Charter Waiting in the Wings

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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May 9, 2000
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The Time-Warner Cable deal is dead with Comcast, but TWC is still up for grabs. According to the WSJ, Charter Communications is purported to be gearing up for a new run at Time Warner now that Comcast is totally out of the picture.

Time Warner Cable CEO Rob Marcus declined to comment directly on any other potential acquisitions, but noted that his company would remain open to any possibilities that could result in future growth and success.
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Yeah, improving there customer service, expanding there coverage area and offering better channel packages is totally out of the question for improving there business model.
 
Charter is a much smaller industry player so this is probably acceptable ... and they might get a better price this way since there is no deep pockets bidder (like Comcast) going against them ... industry consolidation is actually good for the industry (and good for the consumer where you have healthier service providers) ... a combined TWC/Charter organization would be similar in size to Comcast so we would be more likely to get better competition between the two large providers (like we get with AT&T and Verizon) ... at least at the national level
 
I for one hope charter win. I have charter and have had really no problems with them. I rack up around 500GBs a month or so and never have I seen one abuse letter. Yeah I stream a lot bite me. They are the only ones that truly do not have data caps. Their network routing is a bit wonky but works pretty well.
 
No thanks. We don't need "bigger" monopolies. It would be preferable if these companies were all chopped up into one unit per state instead, but barring that utopian ideal we can settle for two big fat lazy ones.
 
kbrickley said:
Charter is a much smaller industry player so this is probably acceptable ... and they might get a better price this way since there is no deep pockets bidder (like Comcast) going against them ... industry consolidation is actually good for the industry (and good for the consumer where you have healthier service providers) ... a combined TWC/Charter organization would be similar in size to Comcast so we would be more likely to get better competition between the two large providers (like we get with AT&T and Verizon) ... at least at the national level
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History shows consistently that making companies bigger to compete against other larger entities is the wrong route to take and always hurts the consumers while benefiting the CEO's and stockholders only. The only real approach that will help consumers and drive real competition would be to give Comcast the Ma-Bell treatment, or best case scenario help speed up the number of towns building their own public fiber networks with generous funds and watch these corporations change, or collapse with their greed in those towns overnight.
 
acidrain97 said:
I for one hope charter win. I have charter and have had really no problems with them. I rack up around 500GBs a month or so and never have I seen one abuse letter. Yeah I stream a lot bite me. They are the only ones that truly do not have data caps. Their network routing is a bit wonky but works pretty well.
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That's a light month for me on TWC and I've never heard mention of a cap here, unlike the case with Charter.
 
kbrickley said:
Charter is a much smaller industry player so this is probably acceptable ... and they might get a better price this way since there is no deep pockets bidder (like Comcast) going against them ... industry consolidation is actually good for the industry (and good for the consumer where you have healthier service providers) ... a combined TWC/Charter organization would be similar in size to Comcast so we would be more likely to get better competition between the two large providers (like we get with AT&T and Verizon) ... at least at the national level
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You should be hired as cable industry lobbyist.
 
What exactly do people consider "customer service" these days? Is this just a term for chatting with a Tier 1 support girl on the phone who listens to you bitch and whine about laggy xbox games? Or do you simply define it as the company's ability to fix a problem after you call in to report it?
 
kbrickley said:
Charter is a much smaller industry player so this is probably acceptable ... and they might get a better price this way since there is no deep pockets bidder (like Comcast) going against them ... industry consolidation is actually good for the industry (and good for the consumer where you have healthier service providers) ... a combined TWC/Charter organization would be similar in size to Comcast so we would be more likely to get better competition between the two large providers (like we get with AT&T and Verizon) ... at least at the national level
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There's no real competition between AT&T and Verizon now except in wireless. This is the root of the problem now, there's only a handful of areas where cable companies actually compete against each other fully (that is can match each other in channels and internet service)
 
Not too many years ago I would of been far more agitated at the idea of charter taking over than comcast. I was a charter customer for years and it was BAD. They were bar none the single worst experience I have had with a cable company. That however was before they went bankrupt. During the time they went bankrupt I had moved to Fla and was on Brighthouse (who were amazing). I ended up moving back up to Ga and was dreading going back on charter. To my surprise they were a completely different company post bankruptcy. I'm in NY on TWC now and I would be far more supportive of this than comcast.
 
Maybe if the FCC didn't chicken out on local loop unbundling - hi Europe - then this would be an easier pill to swallow.

These mergers never seem to help consumers, all we end up with usually is the lowest common denominator. Great for overpaid CEOs and "Rats on sinking ship" investors.
 
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