Groups Urge Opposition of Adelphia Sale to Time Warner-Comcast
Sale of Adelphia to Time Warner-Comcast wouldn’t be in the public interest of cities and local franchising authorities that oversee cable rates, advocacy groups warned mayors Wed. in a letter to cities within the deal’s radius. “We ask you to join us in opposing the sale of Adelphia Corp.’s cable systems to Comcast and Time Warner Cable and the transfer of local Adelphia cable franchises to those companies,” the letter said.
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“What this signals is a kind of grass roots campaign against the Comcast-AOL takeover,” said Jeff Chester, exec. dir. of the Center for Digital Democracy. “This letter will open the door to discuss the concerns” raised, he said. The letter, signed by Chester and principals from the Media Access Project, Common Cause, Free Press and Center for Creative Voices in Media, went to mayors in Ariz., Cal., Colo., Ohio, Fla., Me., N.Y., P.R., Mont., Ida. and Wash.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors wouldn’t comment on the letter, saying through a spokeswoman it doesn’t take positions on mergers within the communications industry. But the spokeswoman said it’s important that cities maintain franchise authority over rights of way in mergers, and make sure the industry continues to provide social and public safety obligations such as universal service and 911.
“If the Adelphia purchase is approved, Comcast will grow by 2 million homes to 23.5 million,” the letter said. Comcast already has nearly 30% of the market with 21.5 homes served, and is the nation’s largest provider of broadband Internet access, the letter said. Time Warner Cable, though smaller than Comcast, is controlled by media conglomerate Time Warner, the nation’s largest Internet service provider through its AOL and Road Runner units, the letter said.
The letter pledged to “protect the public’s rights” by demanding strict regulatory scrutiny of a sale, adding that they would challenge the sale at the federal, state and local level in each Adelphia market being transferred in the purchase.
With regard to regulatory jurisdiction over a potential cable acquisition, the FCC needs to activate its cable ownership rulemaking, said Media Access Project Pres. Andrew Schwartzman. “It is incongruous to us that the Commission could allow Comcast to grow any bigger without completing action on this rule,” he said. The long overdue rulemaking “will be bar mitzvahed without having ever been put into effect,” he said, referring to the 13 years that it has been in regulatory limbo