Comcast, Time Warner rivals may see opportunity in mega-merger

When Comcast, a Washington lobbying powerhouse, fires up a campaign to convince lawmakers and regulators to support its $45 billion purchase of Time Warner Cable, don’t expect much opposition from the companies' biggest rivals.

Instead of fighting the deal -- which would create a cable TV and broadband Internet provider with 30 million customers and a television network -- rivals like Cablevision Systems and Cox Communications will likely try to use the merger of the No. 1 and No. 2 cable companies to extract their own concessions from the government, including seeking permission for their own mergers and lighter regulation. Charter Communications, which was close to buying Time Warner Cable before Comcast undercut it with the deal, would be viewed as a sore loser if it chose to oppose the merger. The company is already looking around at other cable companies to buy, including Cox.

Rather than fighting, the companies are likely to say, “’We need scale to compete with Comcast,’” so approve our deals, said Harold Feld, a senior vice president at Public Knowledge. AT&T and Verizon Communications, the biggest wireless companies, are likely to lie low for the same reason. “AT&T and Verizon typically have had a gentlemen’s agreement that, ‘We don’t comment on your merger and you won’t comment on our merger,’” Feld said.