Comcast bucks merger critics, claims ‘real, tangible benefits’

Comcast is offering a resounding rebuttal to critics of its proposed $45 billion merger with Time Warner Cable, promising that the deal would bring faster Internet speeds, better infrastructure and a more reliable network.

In paperwork filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) late on Tuesday, the cable giant defended its proposed merger against public interest groups and companies like Netflix that have urged the agency to block the deal.

{mosads}The merger would allow Comcast to funnel more money into Time Warner Cable’s systems, it said in its 337-page filing, leading to faster Internet speeds for many Time Warner Cable customers.

“Even more significant, when Comcast invests, it incentivizes competitors to invest too,” the company added. That creates a “virtuous cycle of investment and reinvestment” that benefits everybody, it claimed.

Instead of limiting competition or pushing out smaller cable channels, the deal would actually lead to “substantial consumer welfare and public interest benefits,” Executive Vice President David Cohen wrote in a blog post.

“In short,” he said, “the transactions will give consumers real, tangible benefits like faster Internet speeds, a more reliable and more secure network, net neutrality protection, low-cost Internet access, more Wi-Fi, increased business service competition, and an enhanced advertising market.”

Critics have been quick to oppose the planned merger, which would combine the country’s No. 1 and No. 2 cable companies.

After the deal, Comcast would be the top cable provider in 19 of the country’s top 20 markets. Opponents say the deal would give Comcast the leverage to act like a bully, unafraid of competition from other companies.

But as Comcast has noted, the two companies don’t currently compete in any of the same markets. Comcast has also said it would spin off about 2.5 million customers into a new company called GreatLand, which would partially belong to Charter, the No. 3 cable company.

Many of critics’ concerns are part of “a generalized ‘big is bad’ theme,” Comcast said in its FCC filing. “This is symptomatic of the overheated rhetoric that large transactions always evoke.”

“Every morning we wake up to an Internet that is better in every respect than the one we had the night before,” it added. Comcast claimed the daily improvements have only been possible due to a hands-off approach from regulators.

Along with the Justice Department, the FCC is responsible for deciding whether or not the deal should go through. Its second round of comments closed on Tuesday.

Earlier this year, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler criticized the current lack of competition in the broadband market, which some saw as a tip of his hand in opposition to the merger.