Charter to Face Dialed-Down Fight Over TWC/BHN Conditions
Charter Communications should expect public interest groups to oppose its ask that the FCC set a May sunset to the data caps and interconnection conditions from its purchase of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks (see 2006180050). The cable ISP could face watered-down opposition compared with what it faced to get regulatory OK, with some groups telling us it's question of available resources. The commission might be hesitant to act on the petition before the November election, we were told.
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Public interest groups "are lining up to file," said lobbyist David Goodfriend. The Sports Fan Coalition chairman said the group is likely to file opposition to the petition. The company and regulator didn't comment Thursday.
"This isn't the battle I would want to fight if I was Charter," said Public Knowledge Legal Director John Bergmayer, saying PK will oppose the petition. He said the company might get some support from think tanks that would have opposed merger conditions. He said keeping the conditions is particularly important since the Title II rollback by the FCC means fewer guardrails on Charter behavior.
Public concern and opposition activity will likely be dialed down from the opposition raised in 2015 and 2016 because changes in the video market are making it clear there's less to be concerned about, said Randolph May, Free State Foundation president. He said FSF will support lifting the conditions on Charter even sooner than May.
Greenlining Institute Technology Equity Director Paul Goodman told us the group will at least file initial comments and "see how it goes." At least preliminarily, it seems likely the FCC will approve the Charter petition "without a lot of fuss," though the market issues prompting the conditions -- with Charter often facing little or no competition in markets -- haven't changed, he said. Goodman said Charter might get some cable ISP comments allied with the eliminating its data caps condition, so if those other companies are in an takeover deal in the future they can point to the FCC lifting Charter's data caps as precedent for why they shouldn't face any.
"I'm sure there will be opposition," and Common Cause is against lifting the conditions, though it's not clear if it will be an active participate in opposing the petition, said Yosef Getachew, director-media and democracy program. The conditions “were put in place for a reason" and there's no good-faith reason for lifting them early, he said. He said data cap lifting has been an industry goal for a while, though it's unclear if the industry will weigh in. Incompas emailed that Charter is making "a provocative and poorly timed move .... [and] we anticipate backlash from consumers who love new streaming competition." NCTA didn't comment.
Free Press Vice President-Policy Matt Wood emailed the group is "strongly considering filing comments" and criticized the short comment cycle, with the public notice June 22 setting a comment deadline of July 22, replies Aug. 6. "But however slim the chances of convincing the Pai FCC to take competition-enhancing and consumer-protective steps at any time, let alone on a difficult time frame like this, these issues are just as important today as ever," Wood said. He said the Charter conditions had an expiration date, and "it's sad to see just how short-lived they were -- especially when Charter rightly touted the fact that it has no data caps when it took the FCC's COVID pledge." Ajit Pai chairs the agency.
The Pai administration typically might want push the Charter petition through quickly, especially since the FCC could change hands next year, but its deregulatory bent could be tempered by the possibility of approval being a political hot-button issue before the November election, Goodfriend said. Broadband issues could play a role in the election given the pandemic and stay-at-home orders elevating broadband's necessity, he said. Charter could also face criticism from the Black community for its ongoing litigation with Entertainment Studios Networks (see 2003310001), said Goodfriend, who represents ESN. FSF's May said it's unlikely politics would enter into FCC consideration that way.
The FCC needs to pause its Charter proceeding for two months because it was put on public notice too early, Newsmax said in a docket 16-197 posting Wednesday. The Wireline Bureau under the FCC's conditions on the TWC/BHN deal couldn't seek comment on the Charter petition until Aug. 18, five months before the deal's five-year anniversary of closing, instead of June 22 as it did, the programmer said. Newsmax said it wasn't sure if it will participate in the proceeding, and "rushing to put the petition out for comment in only two business days .... inappropriately limit[s] the available data and amount of time for assessment," giving the appearance of "undue favoritism."