WASHINGTON (AP) — Comcast Corp. on Tuesday presented its
case to government regulators arguing that its $45 billion takeover of
Time Warner Cable Inc. will benefit consumers without limiting
competition.
The company filed hundreds of pages of documents with
the Federal Communications Commission after filing a notice Monday with
the Justice Department.
On Wednesday, Comcast Corp. executive
vice president David Cohen will testify before the U.S. Senate Judiciary
Committee in a hearing to review the impact of the merger on consumers.
Comcast
says the acquisition will allow it to boost Internet speeds for Time
Warner Cable. The filing also says the company will provide better
video-on-demand service and broaden its commitment to "Net neutrality" —
the idea that Internet providers should not discriminate against Web
traffic depending on its source.
Comcast has agreed to not
discriminate against any traffic in its network through 2018 as a
condition of its $30 billion purchase of NBCUniversal, which was
completed last year. The company vowed to maintain the commitment
despite a federal appeals court decision that struck down the
FCC-imposed rules in January.
Comcast says pay-TV alternatives
like streaming services from Netflix Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and others
have created competition in video, while there is at least one broadband
Internet competitor in more than 98 percent of its markets.
"Comcast
and Time Warner Cable do not compete against each other in any area. So
this transaction will not result in any reduction in consumer choice in
any market," said Cohen on a conference call with journalists Tuesday.
Cohen
also responded to calls by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings to extend "Net
neutrality" protections to the so-called "interconnection" area between
major Internet backbone providers such as Comcast. In February, the two
companies reached a deal in which Netflix pays Comcast to ensure its
video streams faster and more consistently to Comcast subscribers. But
Hastings said last month that the fee amounts to an "arbitrary tax" to
companies like Comcast that act as gatekeepers to their networks.
Cohen
said the market for interconnection is "not at all impacted by this
transaction" although the deal will give it about a third of the market
for all Internet subscribers nationwide.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler
said last week that while rules governing the "interconnection" between
Internet backbone providers are not part of its current review of open
Internet rules, the agency is monitoring the space to see if action is
needed in another context. Wheeler’s comments leave open the possibility
that the FCC could impose conditions on interconnection deals as part
of its merger review process.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights
reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.