4-Day CPUC Proceedings Bring Agency Closer to Decision on Charter/Cox Merger

Source: Communications Daily‍ ‍|By Philip Athey

After four days of testimony from 10 witnesses, the California Public Utilities Commission evidentiary hearing on the $34.5 billion Charter/Cox deal ended Thursday, inching the commission toward a final decision on the merger.  The Charter/Cox transaction has already received approval from the FCC and DOJ, as well as regulators in New York and Connecticut, leaving the CPUC as the last barrier to Charter becoming the largest U.S. ISP and cable company. 

However, Alexandra Green, a telecom regulatory attorney for The Utility Reform Network (TURN), pointed out that Charter has no commitment to lower prices, even if the economics of the merger would allow them to. She also said during her cross-examination of Falk that while Charter has implied that the growing customer base would lead to more Charter employees, the company has no commitment to growing its workforce post-merger.