Comcast claims its plan to purchase Time Warner Cable is not anti-competitive because the two cable TV and Internet service providers operate in different markets. Nice try, guys. But in each market each company is either the dominant or the sole provider, so each firm is effectively a monopoly in each market. Linking all the markets under one corporate banner equals one large monopoly for each firm. And merging the two firms means an even larger monopoly.
But wait, you say. What of Verizon and other telecom offspring born of the breakup of AT&T some 30 years ago? Aren't they competitors with Comcast or Time Warner? And don't forget the satellite providers. Don't they also compete for subscribers in each market?
Yes and no. Comcast provides not only cable TV and Internet service, but also telephone service. And it owns NBC Universal, which provides the programming content that's carried over the cable network. Time Warner also provide content.
The old-line telephone companies, such as Verizon, are only carriers and do not produce content. The cable-based firms control the transmission lines as well as much of the content. They control not only how we watch TV but also what we watch.
It's one thing to have a monopoly owning and operating the transmission lines, but quite another when that same firm gets to decide what goes on the network.
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