Good Essay About Dark Days For The Comcast/Time Warner

Comcast (an internet service provider) recently announced that it was buying Time Warner Cable in a deal worth $45 billion (Channick). Although the deal could see the two largest internet services providers enhance their market share in the internet business, government authorities are yet to approve the deal. Besides that, the deal faces other challenges including massive negative publicity. Many consumers are complaining of the poor services offered by Comcast workers. Customers also criticize the company for having a poor customer service program that does not address the concerns of customers.
As mentioned above, government authorities including the Federal Communication Commission is yet to approve the deal because it is still conducting scrutiny of the merger. Many people believe a governmental stand will help resolve the stalemate in the mega-deal. The public is concerned with the deal because it thinks the deal will make Comcast continue offering substandard services to consumers (Brodkin). Before providing solution, the government has to evaluate the pros and cons of approving the deal. However, it is most likely the government will opt for a position that serves the interest of the majority (public). In addition, the public believes the government holds the power to address all concerns involving the two companies and the public. The government acts as a regulator of the market operations and, hence can decide whether the merging deal can bring any effects on the market. If the market proves to offer more benefits than disadvantages, the government through Federal Communication Commission will opt for a speedy approval of the deal.
As a regulator of the telecommunications market, the Federal Communications Communication (FCC) has the legal responsibility of addressing the problem facing the merging firms and, the public (Higginbotham). FCC should decide whether to approve or disapprove the deal between Comcast and Time Warner Cable. Therefore, taking a stand in this issue will require the FCC to provide facts that support their move.
Given the authority to propose a solution, I would approve the merger. Approval of the deal will bring benefits to both the firms and the public. On the firms’ side, it will provide the mergers with an increased market share especially in the broadband market. This means that the firms will have an enhanced capacity and enjoy a competitive edge to deliver services to more customers. Moreover, the merging firms will help reduce competition since the two companies are biggest competitors in the telecommunications field in United States. As business studies indicate, mergers enhance the market power of firms and this helps them in determining the pricing of goods and services in the market.
Approval of the merger will also be met with conditions. First, the merging firms should ensure they review their services for purposes of enhancing service delivery. For instance, the mergers should improve customer service initiatives for purposes of ensuring consumers concerns are well address. As mentioned earlier, Comcast has in the recent years receiving criticisms for having poor customer service. The company should use the merger as an opportunity to improve its customer services. Secondly, the merger firms should ensure they provide an acceptable pricing structure that does not hurt the consumers as well as other players in the market. For instance, the mergers should not abuse their market dominance to implement a pricing structure that leads to monopoly of the market.

Works Cited

Brodkin, Jon. "One Year Later, Comcast’s Megamerger Faces Unknown Fate, Dubious Public Benton Foundation." Ars Technica, 13 Feb. 2015. Web. 21 Feb. 2015.
Channick, Robert. "Comcast's Customer Service Incidents Jeopardizing $45 Billion Deal Benton Foundation." Chicago Tribune, 13 Feb. 2015. Web. 21 Feb. 2015.
Higginbotham, Stacey. "A Year Later, is the Huge Comcast-Time Warner Cable Deal Doomed? Benton Foundation." GigaOm, 16 Feb. 2015. Web. 21 Feb. 2015.