DISH Files Reply with FCC on Proposed Charter/Time Warner Cable Merger, Says Not in Public Interest
November 12 2015 - 7:15PM
Business Wire
DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) today filed a reply with
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) countering arguments
made by Charter Communications, Inc. (Charter), Time Warner Cable,
Inc. (TWC) and Bright House Networks (BHN) defending the proposed
merger between the companies. In the reply, DISH outlines how the
applicants have failed to prove that this proposed merger is in the
public interest and reiterates its call for the FCC to deny the
merger.
“If the proposed merger is approved, 90 percent of the nation’s
high speed broadband homes would be controlled by two companies,
and the combined ‘New Charter’ would have every incentive to
sabotage OTT services like Sling TV that compete with the old
school cable bundle,” said Jeffrey Blum, DISH senior vice president
and deputy general counsel. “The proposed merger is harmful for
consumers, competition and innovation, and should be denied.”
Following are key points DISH makes in today’s filing. The
complete filing can be found here.
MERGER WILL NOT SERVE THE PUBLIC INTEREST:
- New Charter Will Have an Increased
Incentive and Ability to Harm OVDs: New Charter would have a
particularly heightened incentive to discriminate against competing
OVD services, especially live streaming services like Sling TV –
which is a total substitute for linear pay television. (p.13)
- New Charter is Likely to Increase
Broadband Prices, Further Prejudicing Rival OVDs: New Charter
will be able to deploy another win-win strategy to make its
broadband business more profitable, while still protecting its
linear video business: raise the price of broadband access either
directly or indirectly. (p.13)
- The Merger Will Create a Dominant
Duopoly with the Incentive to Engage in Anti-Competitive Parallel
Conduct: As DISH explained in its Petition to Deny, this
transaction will create a broadband duopoly, with Comcast and New
Charter controlling about 90 percent of the high-speed broadband
homes in the country. Parallel action, with one of the two
following the other, will be enough to foreclose an OVD from almost
all high-speed homes in the country. (p.17-18)
- The Merger “Benefits” are Nothing
More than Repackaged Plans and Conjecture: Charter also fails
to provide any evidence that the combination of Charter with TWC
and BHN is necessary to achieve many, if not all, of the benefits
it touts. From infrastructure through jobs and cost savings,
Charter has offered little more than recycled (non-merger-specific)
business plans and conjecture. (p.24)
A copy of DISH’s response filing can be found here:
http://about.dish.com/sites/dishnetwork.newshq.businesswire.com/files/doc_library/file/DISH_Reply_to_FCC_on_Proposed_CharterTime_Warner_Cable_Merger.pdf
A copy of the full petition to deny (filed on October 13) is
available here:
https://dishnetwork.newshq.businesswire.com/sites/dishnetwork.newshq.businesswire.com/files/doc_library/file/2015-10-13_As-Filed_DISH_Network_Corp_Petition_to_Deny_Charter-Time_Warner_Cable_Merger.pdf
About DISH
DISH Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH), through its subsidiaries,
provides approximately 13.909 million pay-TV subscribers, as of
Sept. 30, 2015, with the highest-quality programming and technology
with the most choices at the best value. DISH offers a high
definition line-up with more than 200 national HD channels, the
most international channels and award-winning HD and DVR
technology. DISH Network Corporation is a Fortune 250 company.
Visit www.dish.com.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151112006778/en/
DISHKaren Modlin, 303-723-1850Karen.Modlin@dish.com
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