Consumer rights groups reject proposed Comcast-Time Warner Cable deal

Consumer and digital rights groups have reportedly expressed their reservations against the proposed 45.2 billion dollar acquisition deal of Time Warner Cable by Comcast.

The groups have claimed that the deal would give the combined company huge market power in the broadband and cable TV industries.

According to PC World, the proposed deal would give Comcast approximately 30 million broadband and 30 million cable TV customers, after the company's promise to sell off systems covering 3 million subscribers.

Free Press, Public Knowledge and Consumer Watchdog have called on the US Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice or Federal Trade Commission to reject the deal.

The Communications Workers of America, a union representing about 5,000 workers between the two companies, also said that the proposed deal raises concerns about jobs, competition and consumer costs.

Senior Vice President at Public Knowledge, Harold Feld, said that the combined company would control about a third of the US cable market, with the deal focused on leveraging video, voice and broadband in the so-called triple-play market.

Research director at Free Press, Derek Turner said that as a combined entity, their market share would control such a large share of the broadband market that they would have the ability, not only to dictate it for their own customers, but dictate prices for the entire industry.

Meanwhile, Comcast's Executive Vice President David Cohen downplayed the concerns and said that the transaction was pro-consumer, pro-competitive and strongly in the public interest.